Catholic News 2
VALENCIA, Venezuela (AP) -- General Motors announced Thursday that it was shuttering its operations in Venezuela after authorities seized its factory in the country, a move that could draw the Trump administration into the escalating chaos engulfing the South American nation amid days of deadly protests....
DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors became the latest corporation to have a factory or other asset seized by the government of Venezuela, and the Detroit automaker faces an uphill battle to recover any damages....
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Southeast Asia, a focus of past U.S. presidents, has been overlooked thus far for the Trump administration, but Vice President Mike Pence's visit to Indonesia Thursday marked a sign of change and he announced the president would follow him to the region later this year....
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iranian state TV said Thursday that the body charged with vetting candidates has disqualified former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from running in next month's presidential election....
PARIS (AP) -- Paris police say a gunman has killed a police officer and wounded another before being killed himself in an attack on the Champs-Elysees shopping district....
In Tamil-majority northern Sri Lanka, a Catholic bishop led a delegation on Thursday to the local representative of Sri Lanka’s president, to hand over a petition by villagers to regain their homes confiscated by the navy some 9 years ago. Bishop Joseph Kingsley Swamipillai of Mannar accompanied by 40 priest and 300 parishioners from St. Sebastian Church in Mannar marched April 19 to Mullikulam where he handed over the villagers’ petition to the Government Agent of Mannar. Mullikulam village and fishing area of 500 hectares, originally home to about 500 families, was entirely confiscated in 2007 to transform it into the headquarters of the Sri Lankan navy’s North-Western Command. Sri Lanka’s civil war between the Sinhala-dominated Sri Lankan military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that began in 1983 ended with a crushing defeat for the rebels in 2009. Mullikulam village was hit hard by years of war as government and r...
In Tamil-majority northern Sri Lanka, a Catholic bishop led a delegation on Thursday to the local representative of Sri Lanka’s president, to hand over a petition by villagers to regain their homes confiscated by the navy some 9 years ago. Bishop Joseph Kingsley Swamipillai of Mannar accompanied by 40 priest and 300 parishioners from St. Sebastian Church in Mannar marched April 19 to Mullikulam where he handed over the villagers’ petition to the Government Agent of Mannar.
Mullikulam village and fishing area of 500 hectares, originally home to about 500 families, was entirely confiscated in 2007 to transform it into the headquarters of the Sri Lankan navy’s North-Western Command. Sri Lanka’s civil war between the Sinhala-dominated Sri Lankan military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that began in 1983 ended with a crushing defeat for the rebels in 2009. Mullikulam village was hit hard by years of war as government and rebels snatched lands from each other. According to the United Nations over 40,000 civilians died during the last stages of the war.
All Mullikulam villagers are Tamil Catholics, parishioners of the Church of our Lady of Assumption, built in 1786. They began their protest on March 23 in front of their former village and continued through Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The people have permanent title deeds for their agricultural lands and have engaged in a protest ever since. Some 75 families, have been living in temporary huts in front of the navy camp Since March 23, cooking under the trees and bathing in a nearby stream. Different families take turns to protest every day, including the Holy Week.
"We were evacuated from our lands by the military with a promise of returning them within three days but as of today we still cannot go back to our village, go to church regularly or take up our former livelihoods," Vincentamma Croose, an 83-year-old Catholic grandmother and protester complained to UCANEWS. She said there were about 120 families that were temporarily resettled at Malankaadu, 150 families in the village of Kayakuli and about 100 families relocated to India to escape the war, Croose said. "In the past 10 years we demonstrated, handed over petitions, and discussed with government officials and international organizations but we still are out on the road," she said. "Many who went to India are willing to come back but they are waiting to see if they will get back their lands," she said, adding that those who were relocated, along with those who weren't, want their homes and livelihood back.
Charity Sister Nichola Emmanuel said that the navy has benefited from the lands for almost 10 years. "Several times these villagers protested and demanded their land back but the navy didn't listen," said Sister Emmanuel, who joined the protesters. She said they were threatened by the navy on the very first day but they continued demanding their rights. "Many priests, nuns and human rights activists show their solidarity with these people and the villagers will carry on their protest until they get back their lands," the nun said.
At the 32nd UN Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva in June last year, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that Sri Lanka would return all military-held land seized from Tamil civilians by 2018. That dream of the villagers of Mullikulam has not been realized as yet. (Source: UCAN)
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday announced that the two young shepherd children from Fatima, Francisco and Jacinta Marto will be canonised during his forthcoming pastoral visit to the Portuguese town on May 13th.Listen to our report: During an ordinary public consistory in the Vatican, the Pope announced the canonisation of a total of 35 people, the majority of them 16th and 17th century Latin American martyrs. They include 30 Brazilian priests and lay people killed by Dutch soldiers for their refusal to convert to Calvinism during the colonization of north eastern Brazil in 1645. Three other martyrs were young Mexican boys, educated by Franciscan missionaries and murdered for their refusal to follow the local indigenous religion.The new saints also include a Spanish priest, who founded an institute for abandoned children at the turn of the 20th century, as well as a Capuchin friar from Naples who defended the rights of the poor of his day, in the early 18th cen...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday announced that the two young shepherd children from Fatima, Francisco and Jacinta Marto will be canonised during his forthcoming pastoral visit to the Portuguese town on May 13th.
Listen to our report:
During an ordinary public consistory in the Vatican, the Pope announced the canonisation of a total of 35 people, the majority of them 16th and 17th century Latin American martyrs. They include 30 Brazilian priests and lay people killed by Dutch soldiers for their refusal to convert to Calvinism during the colonization of north eastern Brazil in 1645. Three other martyrs were young Mexican boys, educated by Franciscan missionaries and murdered for their refusal to follow the local indigenous religion.
The new saints also include a Spanish priest, who founded an institute for abandoned children at the turn of the 20th century, as well as a Capuchin friar from Naples who defended the rights of the poor of his day, in the early 18th century.
Centenary of Marian apparitions
But undoubtedly the best known names on Thursday’s list of newly proclaimed saints are those of Portuguese brother and sister Francisco and Jacinta Marto, the shepherd children who, along with their cousin Lucia Santos, saw the apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima exactly one hundred years ago.
Beatified by Pope John Paul II
Unlike Lucia, who became a nun and lived to the age of 98, Francisco and Jacinta died in childhood, aged just 9 and 11, as a result of the great flu epidemic that swept through Europe in 1918. On May 13th of the year 2000, the two of them were beatified by Pope John Paul II during his pastoral visit to Portugal.
Sr Lucia's cause for beatification
Meanwhile the case for Sr Lucia’s beatification concluded its first phase in Portugal earlier this year and is now being examined at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints here in the Vatican.
(Vatican Radio) Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, has given statements at two panels during the International Dialogue on Migration (IDM). The IDM is the International Organization for Migration’s principal forum for migration policy dialogue.Addressing a panel on “Implementing the SDGs [sustainable development goals] and Other Major Frameworks,” Abp Auza said, “At the heart of forced migration is lack of solidarity and often wilful neglect of our neighbors’ most basic needs, such as access to quality education, decent work, adequate housing and primary health-care.” For this reason, he said, “our first and most basic work must be to answer the basic needs of our brothers and sisters and to ensure their peace and security at home. This is also the fundamental purpose of the Goals we set out for ourselves in the 2030 Agenda.”At a second panel focussed on &ldq...
(Vatican Radio) Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, has given statements at two panels during the International Dialogue on Migration (IDM). The IDM is the International Organization for Migration’s principal forum for migration policy dialogue.
Addressing a panel on “Implementing the SDGs [sustainable development goals] and Other Major Frameworks,” Abp Auza said, “At the heart of forced migration is lack of solidarity and often wilful neglect of our neighbors’ most basic needs, such as access to quality education, decent work, adequate housing and primary health-care.” For this reason, he said, “our first and most basic work must be to answer the basic needs of our brothers and sisters and to ensure their peace and security at home. This is also the fundamental purpose of the Goals we set out for ourselves in the 2030 Agenda.”
At a second panel focussed on “Reaching a whole government approach to Migration,” Abp Auza said, “The governance of migration cannot be relegated to one ministry or a single department in government.” Rather, “a comprehensive response to migration requires a ‘whole of government approach,’ one that integrates the perspectives of different ministries and officials, that reflects the integral nature of the human person and that acknowledges the need for a common response to migration in all of its complexity.”
Pointing out Pope Francis’ emphasis on defending the “inalienable rights” of migrants, Abp Auza noted that the Holy Father has introduced the concept of the “duty of civility.” This concept, he said, “not only implies government efforts but also the obligation of migrants, while they continue to treasure their own values from their culture of origin, to respect the laws and traditions of the countries in which they are received and embraced.”
Please find below the full text of both of Archbishop Bernardito Auza’s statements:
Panel 1: Implementing the SDGs and Other Major Frameworks:
How the Global Compact on Migration can help meet our commitments
New York, 18 April 2017
Mr. Chair, Distinguished Panellists,
The Global Compact on Migration will provide the international community with an opportunity to achieve the commitments it made in the adoption of the 2030 Agenda. During his address to the UN General Assembly, on 25 September 2015, Pope Francis described the adoption of the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” as “an important sign of hope”.
Taking into consideration the 2016 Note from the Holy See with regard to the same Agenda, the Holy See believes that this hope will be realized only if the Agenda is truly, fairly, and effectively implemented for all, including for migrants. In the Agenda itself, Target 10.7 calls for the facilitation of “orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies.” Such an outcome requires, however, the analysis, delineation and effective realization of practical strategies to address the drivers of forced migration, like those proposed in the Agenda.
For this reason, Pope Francis has urged all government leaders to take immediate, effective, practical and concrete steps to preserve and improve the natural environment and thus put an end as quickly as possible to the phenomenon of social and economic exclusion.
Mr Chair,
At the heart of forced migration is lack of solidarity and often wilful neglect of our neighbours’ most basic needs, such as access to quality education, decent work, adequate housing and primary health-care. These unmet needs are at the root of global instability and their baneful repercussions are human trafficking, the marketing of human organs and tissues, the sexual exploitation of boys and girls, slave labour, including prostitution, the drug and weapons trade, terrorism and international organized crime. This is why our first and most basic work must be to answer the basic needs of our brothers and sisters and to ensure their peace and security at home. This is also the fundamental purpose of the Goals we set out for ourselves in the 2030 Agenda. One additional area of grave concern requiring attentive consideration during this dialogue’s deliberations is that of the significant numbers of unaccompanied or separated child migrants. My delegation would like to echo the recent words of Pope Francis and make a heartfelt appeal that long-term, concrete solutions to this problem be incorporated into the Compact and adopted. Even before addressing solutions, such as family reunification, the question of child migrants must be tackled at its source. This requires, as a first step, the commitment of the whole international community to eliminate the conflicts and violence that force people to flee or to send their children ahead with the hope that they will find safety, security and ultimately a better life. Far-sighted perspectives are called for, capable of offering adequate programs for areas struck by the worst injustice and instability, so that access to authentic development can be guaranteed for all. This perspective should also inform the programs, services and protections provided to migrants not only during their journey, but also upon their arrival in countries of transit and destination.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Panel 3: Reaching a whole government approach to Migration: national and local perspectives
New York, 18 April 2017
Mr. Chair,
The governance of migration cannot be relegated to one ministry or a single department in government. A comprehensive response to migration requires a “whole of government approach,” one that integrates the perspectives of different ministries and officials, that reflects the integral nature of the human person and that acknowledges the need for a common response to migration in all of its complexity. In fact a coordinated effort is needed involving, beyond government, the political community, civil society, international organisations, and religious institutions.
As Pope Francis has emphasized, “Defending ... [migrants’] inalienable rights, ensuring their fundamental freedoms and respecting their dignity are duties from which no one can be exempted.” Respecting, protecting and promoting the human rights of migrants, no matter their migration status, is “a moral imperative,” he said, that must be translated into national and international juridical instruments and the implementation of just far reaching political choices that prioritize constructive processes over immediate results of consensus . ”
Into this discussion, Mr. Chairman, Pope Francis has introduced a new concept – that of the “duty of civility,” which seems quite relevant to the focus of this panel discussion. This approach not only implies government efforts but also the obligation of migrants, while they continue to treasure their own values from their culture of origin, to respect the laws and traditions of the countries in which they are received and embraced. .
There is an obvious link between migration and development. The human promotion of migrants and their families should therefore begin at their communities of origin. To this end, efforts must be encouraged to foster international cooperation in transnational developmental programs, free from partisan interests, and involving migrants as active protagonists. A more comprehensive response to the opportunities and challenges of migration is possible if the international community works together and starts from the primary needs of both migrants and receiving countries.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has written a letter of encouragement to the Marist Brothers who are celebrating the bicentenary of their foundation.Remarking on their primary mission which is the education of young people, the Pope said “an educator’s work is one of constant devotedness demanding sacrifice; but, education is a work of the heart and that is what makes it both different and sublime.”Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni: In his letter addressed to the Superior General of the Marist Brothers, a religious community of more than 3,000 Brothers working to impart an education to some 600,000 young people in Marist schools around the world each year, Pope Francis reflected on the Order’s two centuries of existence, which he said, have been transformed into a great story of devotedness to children and young people welcomed from over the five continents, forming them into good citizens and, in particular, into good Christians.However, ...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has written a letter of encouragement to the Marist Brothers who are celebrating the bicentenary of their foundation.
Remarking on their primary mission which is the education of young people, the Pope said “an educator’s work is one of constant devotedness demanding sacrifice; but, education is a work of the heart and that is what makes it both different and sublime.”
Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni:
In his letter addressed to the Superior General of the Marist Brothers, a religious community of more than 3,000 Brothers working to impart an education to some 600,000 young people in Marist schools around the world each year, Pope Francis reflected on the Order’s two centuries of existence, which he said, have been transformed into a great story of devotedness to children and young people welcomed from over the five continents, forming them into good citizens and, in particular, into good Christians.
However, he said, it is not enough simply to reflect on the past: it is also necessary to discern the present.
Thus the Pope invited the Brothers to examine themselves in the light of the spirit of the Order’s founder, Saint Marcellin Champagnat, who was an innovator in the fields of education and formation and who aimed to highlight the potential that each child has hidden within.
He said in order to be able to go out to sow and cultivate the ground entrusted to him, the Religious-educator must take care of his own interior field, his human and spiritual reserves, and be aware that the ground he is working and shaping is “holy”.
“By your devotedness and effort, faithful to the mission you received, he said, you will contribute to the work of God, who is calling you to be simple instruments in his hands”.
Finally he encouraged them to be open to the future with hope and to contribute, through their example, to the creation of a constantly evolving humanity, in which the weak and the marginalised are valued and loved.
Please find below the translation of the full text of the Pope’s letter:
Dear Brother,
It is a pleasure for me to greet you and, through you, the entire Marist family on the occasion of the Bicentenary of the foundation of your Congregation during which you will celebrate your 22nd General Chapter in Colombia. You are keenly preparing for this event with the motto “A New Beginning”. This sums up a whole programme of renewal and implies a look at the past with gratitude, a discernment of the present, and openness to the future with hope.
Gratitude is the primary emotion flowing from the heart. This attitude of thanksgiving is necessary in order to appreciate the great things that God has done through you. At the same time, giving thanks does us good; it helps us see ourselves as little ones in the eyes of the Lord and as indebted to a tradition freely given to us. You belong to a large family rich in witnesses who knew how to give their lives out of love for God and neighbour with that spirit of fraternity so characteristic of the Congregation which sees in the other “a dear brother, especially dear to me” (Philemon 16). These two centuries of existence have been transformed in their turn into a great story of devotedness to the children and young people you have welcomed from over the five continents and have formed into good citizens and, in particular, into good Christians. These works of charity are expressions of the goodness and mercy of God, who, in spite of our limitations and blunders, never forgets his children.
However, it is not enough simply to reflect on the past; it is also necessary to discern the present. It is right for you to examine yourselves and it is good to do this in the light of the Spirit. Discernment is objectively and charitably acknowledging your present state and facing up to it in the spirit of your founding. For his time, Saint Marcellin Champagnat was an innovator in the fields of education and formation. He experienced for himself the need for love to highlight the potential that each child has hidden within. Your holy Founder used to say, “Education is for the child what cultivation is for the field. However fertile the field may be, if it is not worked, it will produce only brambles and weeds”. An educator’s work is one of constant devotedness demanding sacrifice; but, education is a work of the heart and that is what makes it both different and sublime. Being called to cultivate demands, before all else, self-cultivation. The Religious-educator must take care of his own interior field, his human and spiritual reserves, in order to be able to go out to sow and cultivate the ground entrusted to him. You need to be aware that the ground you are working and shaping is “holy”, seeing on it the love and footprint of God. By your devotedness and effort, faithful to the mission you received, you will contribute to the work of God, who is calling you to be simple instruments in his hands.
Finally, I encourage you to be open to the future with hope, journeying with a renewed spirit. This is not a different road you are taking, but one brought alive in the Spirit. Society today needs people who are solid in their convictions, who can give witness to what they believe in, and, in this way, build a better world for all. On this journey, you will be guided by the motto of your Religious Institute, “All to Jesus through Mary; all to Mary for Jesus”. Have confidence in Mary and allow yourselves to be guided by her in her humility and service, her readiness and silent commitment. These are the attitudes that a good Religious and educator must transmit through his example.
The young people will recognise something extraordinary in your way of being and acting and they will understand that it is worthwhile, not only to learn these values, but more importantly to make them their own. Mary will accompany them in this project and, at her side, they will be confirmed in their vocation, contributing to the creation of a constantly evolving humanity, in which the weak and the marginalised are valued and loved. This future that they desire so much and dream of, is not an illusion: it is being built today, saying “yes” to the will of God, with the certainty that, as a good Father, he will not deceive our hope.
I thank the Lord and Mary, our Good Mother, as Saint Marcellin liked to call her, for the presence in the Church of your vocation and service, and I ask for you the gift of the Holy Spirit so that, led by God’s Spirit, you will bring to children and young people, as well as to all those in need, the nearness and tenderness of God.
Vatican City, 10th April 2017.
Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has urged his faithful to fill the ‘spaces’ that the risen Lord provides to fill them with light, love and mission, stressing that money could not corrupt the truth about Jesus’ Resurrection. “For Christians, the Risen Jesus provides the sure hope that justice, mercy and love are stronger than evil and death,” the Archbishop of Manila said in his homily on Easter Sunday. He focused on two perspectives of the Resurrection.Commenting on Matthew’s Easter narration, the prelate said that the soldiers guarding the tomb were bribed to spread the lie that the body of Jesus was stolen by his disciples. “This mode of acting sadly continues in our world,” the cardinal lamented saying “hope in Jesus is forcibly discredited by offers of other sources of security and hope that money could buy.” “But,” he noted, “this only leads to greed, corruption, manip...
Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has urged his faithful to fill the ‘spaces’ that the risen Lord provides to fill them with light, love and mission, stressing that money could not corrupt the truth about Jesus’ Resurrection. “For Christians, the Risen Jesus provides the sure hope that justice, mercy and love are stronger than evil and death,” the Archbishop of Manila said in his homily on Easter Sunday. He focused on two perspectives of the Resurrection.
Commenting on Matthew’s Easter narration, the prelate said that the soldiers guarding the tomb were bribed to spread the lie that the body of Jesus was stolen by his disciples. “This mode of acting sadly continues in our world,” the cardinal lamented saying “hope in Jesus is forcibly discredited by offers of other sources of security and hope that money could buy.” “But,” he noted, “this only leads to greed, corruption, manipulation and further despair,” besides inflicting death on others, especially the marginalized. “This Easter we declare once again: no amount of money or power or honor could make us deny that Jesus is Risen and that He is our hope!” Card. Tagle stressed.
Looking at Easter from another perspective, the prelate of Manila said that the Resurrection provides an empty tomb or “space of God to spread light and life,” and “to live our mission.” He noted that “ordinary daily life offers many such ‘spaces’ in our homes, alleys, barangays, schools, buses, jeepneys, markets, offices, cellphones, social media as well as in our minds, emotions, and consciences.” “Let the Risen Jesus empty them of death and fill them with light, love and mission,” Cardinal Tagle added.Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has urged his faithful to fill the ‘spaces’ that the risen Lord provides to fill them with light, love and mission, stressing that money could not corrupt the truth about Jesus’ Resurrection. “For Christians, the Risen Jesus provides the sure hope that justice, mercy and love are stronger than evil and death,” the Archbishop of Manila said in his homily on Easter Sunday. He focused on two perspectives of the Resurrection.
Commenting on Matthew’s Easter narration, the prelate said that the soldiers guarding the tomb were bribed to spread the lie that the body of Jesus was stolen by his disciples. “This mode of acting sadly continues in our world,” the cardinal lamented saying “hope in Jesus is forcibly discredited by offers of other sources of security and hope that money could buy.” “But,” he noted, “this only leads to greed, corruption, manipulation and further despair,” besides inflicting death on others, especially the marginalized. “This Easter we declare once again: no amount of money or power or honor could make us deny that Jesus is Risen and that He is our hope!” Card. Tagle stressed.
Looking at Easter from another perspective, the prelate of Manila said that the Resurrection provides an empty tomb or “space of God to spread light and life,” and “to live our mission.” He noted that “ordinary daily life offers many such ‘spaces’ in our homes, alleys, barangays, schools, buses, jeepneys, markets, offices, cellphones, social media as well as in our minds, emotions, and consciences.” “Let the Risen Jesus empty them of death and fill them with light, love and mission,” Cardinal Tagle added. (Source: CBCP news)
