Catholic News 2
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) -- Opposition lawmakers released tear gas Monday in Kosovo's parliament as they once again tried to pressure the government into renouncing deals with Serbia and Montenegro....
PARIS (AP) -- A preschool teacher who claimed to have been attacked by a masked assailant invoking Islamic State made up the story, French prosecutors said Monday....
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The first 911 caller reported seeing a man walking down a street shooting a gun in the air. Authorities said they received five more similar calls from witnesses alarmed by what they saw....
CHICAGO (AP) -- A Chicago police commander accused of shoving his gun down a suspect's throat and pressing a stun gun to the man's groin was acquitted on battery and misconduct charges Monday, in a ruling that comes amid heavy criticism of the police department's treatment of suspects....
A backlash against American Muslims is leaving a mark on some of the nation's youngest minds....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Working to ease public jitters ahead of the holidays, President Barack Obama opened a rare meeting of his National Security Council at the Pentagon on Monday, part of a weeklong push to explain his strategy for stopping the Islamic State group abroad and its sympathizers at home....
SAMUT SAKHON, Thailand (AP) -- An Associated Press investigation found enslaved migrant workers and children ripping the heads, tails, shells and guts off shrimp at processing factories in Thailand....
 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.
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
# # #
MEDIA CONTACT:
Norma Montenegro Flynn
O: 202-541-3200
(Vatican Radio) Russia says one of its warships has fired warning shots at a Turkish vessel in the Aegean Sea amid escalating tensions with Turkey after it shot down a Russian war plane last month.Listen to Stefan Bos' report:Sunday’s reported shooting followed controversial remarks by Russia’s prime minister who suggested that Turkey’s actions gave grounds for war.Russia’s Defence Ministry said Sunday that the Russian destroyer Smetlivy had been forced to fire warning shots at a Turkish fishing ship in the Aegean Sea to avoid a collision. Moscow also said it had summoned the Turkish military attache over the incident.Refused warningsThe Russian Defence Ministy claimed that the Turkish vessel, which it did not name, had failed to respond to earlier warnings. Instead it allegedly only changed course after shots were fired before passing within just over 500 meters of the warship.The incident, which occurred on Sun...
(Vatican Radio) Russia says one of its warships has fired warning shots at a Turkish vessel in the Aegean Sea amid escalating tensions with Turkey after it shot down a Russian war plane last month.
Listen to Stefan Bos' report:
Sunday’s reported shooting followed controversial remarks by Russia’s prime minister who suggested that Turkey’s actions gave grounds for war.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said Sunday that the Russian destroyer Smetlivy had been forced to fire warning shots at a Turkish fishing ship in the Aegean Sea to avoid a collision. Moscow also said it had summoned the Turkish military attache over the incident.
Refused warnings
The Russian Defence Ministy claimed that the Turkish vessel, which it did not name, had failed to respond to earlier warnings. Instead it allegedly only changed course after shots were fired before passing within just over 500 meters of the warship.
The incident, which occurred on Sunday morning, was likely to heighten tensions between Turkey and Russia. The two nations are seriously at odds over Russia’s military actions in Syria and the Turkish shooting down of a Russian military jet last month.
Violating Turkish airspace
Turkey said that plane violated its airspace, charges Moscow denied. And in controversial remarks Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said that Turkey’s downing of the Russian Su-24 gave the country a justification for war, but added that Russia chose not to respond.
Speaking on the Russian televised program “Talk to the Prime Minister,” he said: "How did states in the twentieth century react in similar circumstances? War started because this is regarded as a direct attack by a foreign state.”
And he added that “war is the worst thing that can happen." That is why, he explained, "it was decided by Russia's authorities and the president not to answer what Turkey did symmetrically" though in his words "there was cause for military actio
Stab in the back
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called the downing of the plane a "stab in the back", has since imposed economic sanctions on Turkey as a retaliatory measure.
However Turkey says Russia has been fuelling tensions as well. Earlier this month, Turkey complained to Russia over an incident in which a Russian sailor was pictured brandishing a rocket launcher on the deck of a naval ship passing through Istanbul.
The tensions between Russia and Turkey have complicated efforts to built a more effective international coalition to fight the so-called Islamic State group in Syria.
(Vatican Radio) The Jubilee Year of Mercy which Pope Francis officially launched on Dec. 8 with the opening of the Holy Door of Mercy of Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica, was replicated in cathedrals around the world on Sunday, Dec. 13, including in the Indian Archdiocese of Bombay. The ceremony of the opening of the Holy Door of Mercy of the Cathedral of the Holy Name was presided over by Auxiliary Bishop John Rodrigues, on behalf of Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the Archbishop of Bombay. In his homily at Mass, Bishop Rodrigues exhorted all to keep in mind the purpose of the Holy Father in calling for the Extraordinary Jubilee, namely, the door to God’s mercy is open to all men and women. The Door of Mercy of the Bombay Archdiocese’s Basilica of Mount Mary in Bandra, will be opened on Dec. 20. Here’s a report on the opening of the Holy Door from Bombay Archdiocese:The faithful, in anticipation, rais...
(Vatican Radio) The Jubilee Year of Mercy which Pope Francis officially launched on Dec. 8 with the opening of the Holy Door of Mercy of Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica, was replicated in cathedrals around the world on Sunday, Dec. 13, including in the Indian Archdiocese of Bombay. The ceremony of the opening of the Holy Door of Mercy of the Cathedral of the Holy Name was presided over by Auxiliary Bishop John Rodrigues, on behalf of Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the Archbishop of Bombay. In his homily at Mass, Bishop Rodrigues exhorted all to keep in mind the purpose of the Holy Father in calling for the Extraordinary Jubilee, namely, the door to God’s mercy is open to all men and women. The Door of Mercy of the Bombay Archdiocese’s Basilica of Mount Mary in Bandra, will be opened on Dec. 20.
Here’s a report on the opening of the Holy Door from Bombay Archdiocese:
The faithful, in anticipation, raised their voices in song, ‘As we gather may your Spirit work within us; as we gather may we glorify your name; knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship, we’ll be blessed because we came!’ And the gathering listened with devout and joyful hearts as His Lordship, Bishop John Rodrigues, intoned the opening prayer, “The mercy of the Father, the peace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” Praise, hope and trust were then expressed in the response to the Psalm, ‘Your mercy endures forever’.
The Bishop exhorted us to keep in mind the purpose of the Extraordinary Jubilee inaugurated by the Holy Father, on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception: the door to God’s mercy is open to all men and women. This day marked, in our Archdiocese of Bombay, the solemn beginning of the Holy Year in communion with the Universal Church.
A reading from the Gospel of Luke 15: 1 - 7, followed, reminding us of the shepherd who goes after the lost sheep until he finds it. Christ is the shepherd and also the Lamb of God, the author of true freedom, the path of profound reconciliation for every creature on earth and we rejoice in this love. In this time of mercy and forgiveness, we – the Church - must shine out to all as a beacon of salvation.
The opening text of the Holy Father’s Bull of Indiction was read, “Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy. These words might well sum up the mystery of the Christian faith…..we are called to gaze even more attentively on mercy so that we may become an effective sign of the Father’s action in our lives…”
Called to ‘go forth in the name of Christ’ the Bishop – preceded by the thurifier, the bearer of the cross, the candle bearers and the Deacon bearing the Book of the Gospels - led the procession to the Holy Door at the Cathedral of the Holy Name, the Mother Church of the Archdiocese of Bombay, as the children’s choir rang out with joyful voice, ‘I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever’ and ‘I rejoiced when I heard the people saying, ‘Let’s go to the temple of the Lord’’.
The Book of the Gospels held aloft at the head of the procession indicates to us that we are pilgrim followers of Christ – the Word of God – who is in our midst and leads us to the gates of heaven.
When the people had gathered outside the Holy Door, the Bishop intoned, ‘Open the gates of justice, we shall enter and give thanks to the Lord!’ As the doors opened, there was a joyful surge as people made their way in and filled the Cathedral. The symbolic pushing open of the Holy Door reminds us of God’s compassionate love and mercy which is always open and available to us in abundance. All we need is the courage to enter the door!
The blessing of water followed, a reminder of our Baptism and our commitment to share God’s message of mercy and reconciliation. Again, the Cathedral resounded to the children’s beautiful harmonization of ‘Rejoice in the Lord always’ as the congregation were sprinkled with the water just blessed.
The ceremony concluded with the prayer: ‘We now turn our thoughts to Mary, the Mother of Mercy. May her merciful gaze be upon us throughout this Holy Year so that all of us may rediscover the joy of God’s tenderness.’
Surely God’s goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days, as we journey together as one community through the year of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy declared by Pope Francis.
