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Caritas India in New Delhi on Tuesday, brought together faith-based organizations active in disaster management to create a network to help India become more resilient when catastrophe strikes.

Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Buddhist organizations participated in the meeting along with former government officials from the Disaster Management Authority.

"It is time not only to be change-makers but also make others into change-makers," said Swamini Adityanand Saraswati from the Global Interfaith Wash Alliance while addressing the meeting.

They decided to create an alliance of groups and communities working on disaster preparedness and management and invited anyone willing to acquire competence in the field to join. They also agreed to create a national humanitarian database to tell stories of those who have risen to the occasion when disaster struck.

Building the resilience of communities must be our overarching priority, said Vinod Menon, a senior official at the Disaster Management Authority.

Father Paul Moonjely of Caritas India said the network would build community resilience, create public awareness, conduct mock exercises and do joint assessments and programs during disasters.

It was probably the first inter-religious meeting on disaster management ever and took remarkable steps to create nationwide resilience, said Anil Sinha, vice chairman of the Bihar Disaster Management Authority.

A number of organizations made presentations including: Caritas India, Catholic Relief Service (CRS), Church's Auxiliary Social Action (CASA), World Vision India and Islamic Relief, Muslim Aid, Brahm Kumaris, Global Interfaith Wash Alliance , Vedic University and Mata Amritmayi Foundation.

According to a report of 2004 from the National Disaster Management Division, India has been traditionally vulnerable to natural disasters on account of its unique geo-climatic conditions. Floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes and landslides have been a recurrent phenomena.  About 60% of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of various intensities; over 40 million hectares is prone to floods; about 8% of the total area is prone to cyclones and 68% of the area is susceptible to drought. In the decade 1990-2000, an average of about 4344 people lost their lives and about 30 million people were affected by disasters every year. (UCAN)

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis greeted newly accredited Ambassadors to the Holy See on Thursday morning, telling them that dialogue and not the use force, was the pathway to peace.

Listen to our report:

Addressing the newly accredited Ambassadors to the Holy See from Kazakhstan, Mauritania, Nepal, Niger, Sudan and Trinidad and Tobago, Pope Francis said the international scene, as he called it, was "at present marked by great complexity", adding nor was it free “of dark clouds.” 

The Holy Father said that this situation required “a greater awareness of the approaches and actions needed to pursue the path of peace and to lessen tensions.”  He noted that among the factors aggravating problems is “an economic and financial system that, rather than being at the service of people, is set up principally to serve itself and to evade oversight by public authorities.”

He went on to say that, “those authorities are responsible for the common good, yet they lack the means necessary to moderate the disproportionate appetites of the few.”

Men and women, not money, the Pope stressed “must once more become the goal of the economy”.

Speaking about conflicts around the world, the Holy Father noted how they were being exacerbated by  fundamentalism, “the abuse of religion to justify a thirst for power, the manipulation of God’s holy name to advance by any means possible one’s own plans to gain power, he said.”

Pope Francis underlined that differences must be confronted “with the courageous patience of dialogue and diplomacy, with initiatives of encounter and peace, and not with shows of force and its hasty and ill-advised use.”

If we move decisively in this direction the Pope concluded, “the cause of peace and justice – the conditions of a balanced development for all – will make tangible progress.”

Below please find the Pope's discourse to the news accedited Ambassadors.

Address of His Holiness Pope Francis

for the Presentation of Credential Letters

by the Ambassadors of Kazakhstan, Mauritania,

Nepal, Niger, Sudan and Trinidad and Tobago

accredited to the Holy See

          I am pleased to receive you on the occasion of the presentation of the Letters by which you are accredited as Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of your countries to the Holy See: Kazakhstan, Mauritania, Nepal, Niger, Sudan and Trinidad and Tobago.  I offer a particular welcome to Mrs M’Haiham, the first Ambassador of Mauritania to the Holy See.  I would ask all of you kindly to convey my sentiments of gratitude and respect to your respective Heads of State, with the assurance of my prayers for them and for the peoples whom they represent.

            The international scene is at present marked by great complexity, nor is it free of dark clouds.  This requires a greater awareness of the approaches and actions needed to pursue the path of peace and to lessen tensions.  Among the factors aggravating problems is an economic and financial system that, rather than being at the service of people, is set up principally to serve itself and to evade oversight by public authorities.  Those authorities are responsible for the common good, yet they lack the means necessary to moderate the disproportionate appetites of the few.

            We also see a greater readiness to have recourse to force, not as a last resort but practically as one means among many, ready to be used without a full consideration of its consequences.

            Yet another factor exacerbating conflicts is fundamentalism, the abuse of religion to justify a thirst for power, the manipulation of God’s holy name to advance by any means possible one’s own plans to gain power.

            The response to these distortions and the risks they pose to world peace must be the creation of a responsible economic and financial system responsive to the needs of individuals and the communities in which they live.  Men and women, not money, must once more become the goal of the economy!  We must also confront differences with the courageous patience of dialogue and diplomacy, with initiatives of encounter and peace, and not with shows of force and its hasty and ill-advised use.  It is likewise essential to isolate those who seek to turn a religious affiliation or identity into a motive of hate for all others.  Those who befoul the image of God in this way need to be confronted by a concerted commitment to demonstrating that those who honour God’s name save lives, not take them; they bring reconciliation and peace, not division and war; they show mercy and compassion, not indifference and brutality.  If we move decisively in this direction, the cause of peace and justice – the conditions of a balanced development for all – will make tangible progress.

            Dear Ambassadors, I would like to express, through you, my greetings to the pastors and faithful of the Catholic communities present in your countries.  I encourage them to continue their witness of faith and to offer their generous contribution to the common good.

            As you officially begin your new mission, I extend to you my best wishes and I assure you of the constant support of the various offices of the Roman Curia in the fulfilment of your responsibilities.  To this end, I willingly invoke upon you and your families, as well as all your fellow citizens, an abundance of divine blessings.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has reminded believers that Jesus' love is infinite and true, unlike worldly passions that seek power and vanity.

The Pope was speaking during Mass at the Casa Santa Marta during which he pointed out that the Christian mission is to give joy and that God’s love is at the core of a true Christian’s life.

 "As the Father loves me, so I also love you" said Pope Francis quoting from the Gospel reading of the day to highlight the fact that the Lord’s love is infinite.

He said the Lord asks us to stay close to Him and to observe His Commandments: “the Ten Commandments of course are the foundation, but we are also called to follow all the things that Jesus has taught us, the commandments of daily life that represent a Christian lifestyle.

There are “passions” that distance us from the true love of Jesus

Jesus’s commandments, the Pope said, cover a very wide spectrum, but the core is one: “the love of the Father for Him, and His love for us”.

“There are other loves. The world itself offers many other loves: love of money for example, vanity, boastfulness, pride, love of power which can even lead to unjust actions to achieve more power…” he said.

These loves, he continued, have nothing to do with the love of Jesus or of the Father. In fact these loves distance us from Jesus’s love.

God’s love is infinite

And emphasizing the fact that the Lord’s love cannot be measured, Pope Francis said that unlike some worldly loves it is neither lukewarm nor tainted by “interest.”  
  
The Pope said that if we follow the “commandments that Jesus has given us” we will remain in Jesus’ love and in the infinite love of the Father “which is the same thing”.

Perhaps the Pope said “we may ask: why do you remind us of this? Because the Lord’s joy is in you and your joy must be complete.” So, he said, “Jesus teaches us the way of love, of having an open heart, of loving without measure, putting other kinds of love aside”.

A Christian’s mission is to obey God and to give joy to others

“Love and joy are gifts we must ask the Lord for” he said and he told the story of a priest who was recently appointed a bishop.

“He went to see his father, he said, to give him the news. His old father was a simple man, a humble worker who had never been to college, but he had the wisdom of life. He had two recommendations for his son: 'Obey and give joy to the people.'”

We Christians, the Pope concluded - lay people, priests, consecrated, bishops - must give joy to the people; on the path to infinite love our Christian mission is to give people joy”. 

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(Vatican Radio) A bishop in Scotland is encouraging young people to ‘slow down’ and get involved in a Taizé movement, explaining that it will help them to think about some of the more important questions in life.

Bishop John Keenan is the bishop of the Diocese of Paisley. He is one of the youngest bishops in the UK and has made youth ministry an important part of his episcopacy since he was consecrated in 2014. In the past three years, a new university chaplaincy has been established and young pilgrims have travelled to Lourdes, to assist sick and elderly members of the faithful from the diocese, and Krakow, joining Pope Francis at the World Youth Day celebrations.

Now, following a recent visit to a Taizé weekend event in Birmingham, England, the bishop is reflecting on how much the young people – from his diocese and the Diocese of Galloway – enjoyed experiencing something different. Speaking to the Scottish Catholic Observer, Scotland’s national Catholic newspaper, the bishop said, “Life is very busy for young people, and there’s an awful temptation to live life on the surface without thinking why they’re really here on earth.”

On further reflection, he explained that getting involved in the Taizé event allowed the young people to spend a few days with hundreds of young people, and that it ‘slowed them down’. He added that this ‘slowing down’ allows the young people to think about important questions concerning identity, faith and purpose.

Across Scotland, more and more parishes are establishing Taizé groups. Bishop Keenan said that it is something he would encourage at parish and deanery levels in his diocese. He is also keen that groups should be established in secondary schools and university chaplaincies. He said, “I would love to see those revived. They’re so simple, they’re so easy. I think especially to give young people an opportunity to come together in a way that is characteristically young.”

Looking forward, Bishop Keenan is thinking about bringing more young people together in 2019 for the World Youth Day festivities in Panama, when young members of the Church will once again gather around the Holy Father. He said that the young people who attended the recent Taizé event were keen to go. “They enjoyed it and I think they’ve decided that for World Youth Day in Panama, Paisley and Galloway are going to do a joint pilgrimage for that, too.”

The Taizé community is an ecumenical monastic order that was founded in 1940 by Brother Roger Schütz, a Reformed Protestant. There are now more than 100 brothers, from the Catholic and Protestant traditions. There is a special emphasis in the community on the importance of music. Songs and hymns are sung in several languages and often the lyrics are simple phrases taken from Scripture and repeated often.

The Hidden Treasure Taizé event allowed young people from all over Europe to gather in a spirit of prayer and solidarity. Over 600 people attended the event, which was organized in cooperation with the local churches in Birmingham.

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(Vatican Radio) The director of the Holy See Press Office has made an announcement that Pope Francis has decided to postpone Corpus Christi celebrations.

Greg Burke announced on Thursday 18th May 2017: “The Holy Father has decided to postpone the liturgical celebration of Corpus Christi, from Thursday 15th June to Sunday 18th June.”

Burke explained that the decision was “in favour of a better participation of the People of God, of priests and of the faithful of the Church in Rome.” He added, “There is a second reason: Thursday is a weekday and so there will be less inconvenience in Rome.”

On the Feast of Corpus Christi, the faithful celebrate the belief in the body and blood of Jesus Christ's Real Presence in the Eucharist. 

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Rome, Italy, May 18, 2017 / 03:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- At the center of the first joint exhibit between the Vatican Museums and the Jewish museum in Rome is the Magdala Stone, a large decorated stone block from a first century Galilean synagogue which has shed light on synagogue worship before the destruction of the Second Temple.

The Magdala Stone was found during the excavation of an synagogue on the site of what is believed to be Magdala, the hometown of Mary Magdalene. The 4.2 cubic feet limestone block may have been used as a bema, on which the Torah was read.

It is carved on four sides and its top with decorative symbols, most prominently the Menorah which was found in the Jewish Temple – a seven-branch menorah described in Exodus, distinct from the nine-branch menorah associated with Hannukah and the Maccabees.

The stone is the centerpiece of the exhibit “Menorah: Worship, History, and Legend”, shown simultaneously at the Jewish Museum and the Braccio di Carlo Magno Museum in the Vatican, located under the left colonnade in St. Peter’s Square.

The exhibit runs May 15-July 23 and includes roughly 130 pieces, including menorahs from various periods and depictions of them in paintings, sarcophagi, sculptures, and medieval and Renaissance drawings and manuscripts.

This is the first time the Magdala Stone has left Israel or been displayed publicly, and its presence at the Vatican is just “one more sign of the collapsing of the walls between Christianity and Judaism,” in the opinion of Fr. Juan Solana, L.C., General Director of the Magdala Project.

Fr. Solana told CNA that the stone’s presence at the exhibit marks not only an interreligious effort between the Vatican Museums and the Jewish museums in Rome, but also collaboration between Vatican City and the State of Israel.  

“I know that it was a lot of work behind the scenes to make it happen,” he explained. “I think it really shows the importance of interreligious dialogue and especially dialogue and friendship between Catholics and Jews.”

Magdala “is very close to Capernaum, in the old area where Jesus preached and taught and performed many miracles,” Fr. Solana said. “So we believe that Jesus went to Magdala and eventually he went to the synagogue and preached there.”

While they can’t know for sure, it is even possible that Christ used the Magdala Stone himself to display scrolls of the Torah.

The town and synagogue were first discovered in 2009 during excavations in preparation for building a Catholic center in Israel. Stalled by the discovery of the site, the Magdala Center, as it is called, is still in the works.

“We found the whole town of Mary Magdalene,” Fr. Solana said; and the cherry on the top, so-to-speak, was the Magdala Stone.

There are seven synagogues known of from the period of Christ's life and more or less 50 years before and after, but in no other synagogue have they found this kind of block, he said.

Archaeologists found a total of three stone blocks in Magdala: one from what was probably a school of the synagogue and one which had been reused as a chair of Moses, the place of authority from which the scribes and Pharisees interpreted the Jewish law. The Magdala Stone was at the center of the synagogue.

The stone is considered important for Judaism because Jewish scholars believe it marks a change within Judaism itself, brought about by the influence of Christianity, Fr. Solana explained.

This is because “Jesus destroyed the idea of the Temple as the center of Judaism,” he said, “and it was confirmed by the destruction of the Temple” in AD 70.

The Magdala Stone and the synagogue both pre-date the destruction of the Temple, which has been confirmed by coins found inside which range from AD 5 to 63 – the time of Christ's life and the first generation of Christians.

Of course, this makes them very important pieces historically, Fr. Solana continued, explaining that the stone itself is a model of the destroyed Temple in Jerusalem. Covered in carvings of Jewish symbols, more even than the Temple itself, it also displays the oldest-known carving of a menorah in Israel.

 

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Vatican City, May 18, 2017 / 05:33 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Thursday Pope Francis received the credentials of six new ambassadors to the Holy See, telling them to work for the common good and support peace efforts that lessen tensions given the complexity of the global climate.

“The international scene is at present marked by great complexity, nor is it free of dark clouds,” the Pope said May 18. This situation, he added, requires “a greater awareness of the approaches and actions needed to pursue the path of peace and to lessen tensions.”

Francis spoke to ambassadors Ms. Zhanar Aitzhan of Kazakhstan; Ms. Aichetou Mint M'Haiham of Mauritania; Mr. Ramesh Prasad Khanal of Nepal; Mr. Boubacar Boureima of Niger; Mr. Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman of Sudan and Mr. Colin Michael Connelly of Trinidad and Tobago.

He asked them to convey his respect to their respective heads of State, and offered a special greeting to M'Haiham, who is Mauritania’s first ambassador to the Holy See.

In his brief speech, the Pope said there are several factors that aggravate the problems that exist on the global stage, the first of which is “an economic and financial system that, rather than being at the service of people, is set up principally to serve itself and to evade oversight by public authorities.”

These authorities are responsible for the common good, “yet they lack the means necessary to moderate the disproportionate appetites of the few,” he said, noting that there seems to be an increasing impulse toward violence.

In many ways, there is “a greater readiness to have recourse to force,” he said, “not as a last resort but practically as one means among many, ready to be used without a full consideration of its consequences.”

Another factor exacerbating current conflicts is “fundamentalism,” the Pope said, pointing specifically to “the abuse of religion to justify a thirst for power” and the “manipulation of God’s holy name to advance by any means possible one’s own plans to gain power.”

Turning to the task the ambassadors themselves will face, Francis said the response to these “distortions” and the risks they pose to promoting peace must be the creation of “a responsible economic and financial system” that is responsive to the needs of both individuals and their communities.

“Men and women, not money, must once more become the goal of the economy!” he said, urging the diplomats to face differences with “the courageous patience of dialogue and diplomacy, with initiatives of encounter and peace, and not with shows of force and its hasty and ill-advised use.”

Likewise, Pope Francis also stressed the importance of isolating those “who seek to turn a religious affiliation or identity into a motive of hate for all others.”

“Those who befoul the image of God in this way need to be confronted by a concerted commitment to demonstrating that those who honor God’s name save lives, not take them,” he said.

If we move more decisively in the direction of peace, mercy and compassion rather than division, war and indifference, then “the cause of peace and justice – the conditions of a balanced development for all – will make tangible progress,” he said.

Francis then offered his personal greetings to the Catholic population in each of the six countries represented by the ambassadors, and assured the diplomats of the constant support of the Roman Curia in fulfilling their duties.

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Oklahoma City, Okla., May 18, 2017 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The remains of Venerable Stanley Rother were exhumed last week and moved to a chapel in Oklahoma City in preparation for the beatification Mass of the first US-born martyr.

“The witness of Father Rother’s life and death has been a source of encouragement and inspiration to me as a seminarian, priest and now as a bishop. I consider it a great gift to be entrusted with overseeing the continuation of his cause for beatification and canonization begun by Archbishop Beltran,” Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City said after the May 10 service.

“His beatification is an unexpected blessing for Oklahoma and for the United States as we celebrate this ordinary man from humble beginnings who answered the call to serve an extraordinary life. His witness will continue to inspire us for generations.”

The body of Fr. Rother, who served as a priest in Guatemala, was taken from Holy Trinity Cemetery in his home town of Okarche, Okla., to the chapel at Resurrection Cemetery in Oklahoma City.

Before his body was exhumed, his family led a prayerful procession to the gravesite. Fr. Rother's remains were later removed form the vault, and examined by medical professionals and verified, as required by the process of beatification.

The martyred priest's body was then placed in a new casket with golden vestments, along with a document signed by those in attendance. A ribbon was wrapped around the casket, sealed with the archdiocese's seal in wax.

The Salve Regina was sung as the casket was re-interred, and a prayer service followed.

“It was a holy day. Father Rother’s presence was felt by many, and we are blessed as the Catholic Church in Oklahoma to present Father Rother’s life to the world,” Archbishop Coakley commented.

A temporary sign now marks Fr. Rother's original gravesite in Okarche, located about 40 miles northwest of Oklahoma City, where the original vault and casket have been re-buried, and a permanent memorial marker is planned.

Fr. Rother's Mass of Beatification will take place Sept. 23 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City. It will be said by Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and concelebrated by Archbishop Coakley.

Fr. Rother was born March 27, 1935 in Okarche and entered seminary soon after graduating from Holy Trinity High School.

Despite a strong calling, Rother would struggle in the seminary, failing several classes and even out of one seminary before graduating from Mount St. Mary's in Maryland. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Oklahoma City and Tulsa in 1963.

He served for five years in Oklahoma before joining the Oklahoma diocese's mission in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, a poor rural community of mostly indigenous persons where he would spend the next 13 years of his life.

The work ethic Fr. Rother learned on his family’s farm would serve him well in this new place. As a mission priest, he was called on not just to say Mass, but to fix the broken truck or work the fields. He built a farmers' co-op, a school, a hospital, and the first Catholic radio station.

Over the years, the violence of the Guatemalan civil war inched closer to the once-peaceful village. Disappearances, killings, and danger soon became a part of daily life, but Fr. Rother remained steadfast and supportive of his people.

In 1980-1981, the violence escalated to an almost unbearable point; Fr. Rother was constantly seeing friends and parishioners abducted or killed.

In January 1981, in immediate danger and his name on a death list, Fr. Rother did return to Oklahoma for a few months. But as Easter approached, he wanted to spend Holy Week with his people in Guatemala.

The morning of July 28, 1981, three Ladinos, the non-indigenous men who had been fighting the native people and rural poor of Guatemala since the 1960s, broke into Fr. Rother's rectory. They wished to disappear him, but he refused.

Not wanting to endanger the others at the parish mission, he struggled but did not call for help. Fifteen minutes and two gunshots later, Father Stanley was dead and the men fled the mission grounds.

Though his body was buried in Okarche, Fr. Rother's heart was enshrined in the church of Santiago Atitlan where he served.

Fr. Rother's cause for beatification was opened in 2007, and his martyrdom was recognized by the Vatican in December 2016, which cleared the way for his beatification.

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