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Asunción, Paraguay, Apr 5, 2017 / 07:43 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Bishops of Paraguay made an urgent appeal for peace after hundreds of demonstrators set fire to the National Congress building in Asuncion on the night of March 31.

In a statement signed March 31, the Paraguayan Bishops' Conference urged that there “be no more wars between brothers! Let us always work for peace!”

The violent demonstrations in Asuncion occurred when a group of legislators approved a constitutional amendment which would allow the reelection of the President of Paraguay, Horacio Cartes.

In a surprise move, and holding the vote behind closed doors, 25 senators supported the controversial measure. The opposition has called the measure illegal, a coup d'état.

So far, the riots have left at least one dead, many more injured – including legislators, police and protesters – and 200 people arrested.

“At this critical time for our homeland, we Bishops of Paraguay make an urgent appeal for peace,” the Bishops' Conference stated in their communiqué.

“We observe with sorrow the public confrontation and want to call on everyone: the authorities and the people. Let's not use violence, protect everyone's life, so the demonstrations don't turn into a battlefield. Let us respect life!”

The bishops urged both the citizens and government to look “not only at the motivations for your actions but also the consequences, and act with due common sense.”

“We urge the leaders and political representatives to win the people's trust with concrete gestures of encounter, dialogue and transparency, respecting the process in which freedom and the possibility to act are not constrained by the urgency of political procedures,” they continued.

Finally, the Paraguayan bishops encouraged a dialogue between all parties because “peace requires the culture of encounter, the search for the common good, national unity.”

“We want a fraternal country where we work for that daily peace, as Pope Francis exhorted at the beginning of his visit to our country in 2015. Let's make it possible. Let's not let this get out of hand. 'A family divided cannot stand,'” the bishops concluded.

Pope Francis, attentive to what is happening on the continent, said in his Sunday Angelus message that he is following “with close attention everything that is going on in Venezuela and Paraguay. I pray for their people, very beloved by me, and I invite everyone to persevere tirelessly, avoiding all violence, in the search for a political solution.”

After the pope's message, the President of Paraguay, Horacio Cartes, posted a message on his social media in which he proposed holding immediate discussions with a representative of the Bishops' Conference, the opposition, the political parties, the legislature, and the executive branch.

“I value immensely that His Holiness is following attentively the events in my homeland and I share his conviction that violence can never be the way to work for the good. Political solutions must be made within the institutional framework,” the president said.

Meanwhile, the Paraguayan bishops thanked “the Pope for his love and concern for the situation our homeland is going through right now.”

“At the same time, we welcome with hope the call made on television by the President of the Republic for a dialogue among the political actors, among whom are included the Paraguayan Bishops Conference,” they added.

“We recognize the value of this call as a response to the Pope's request for the search for political solutions which is the responsibility of all actors of the representative bodies of our Nation.”

The statement signed by the President of the Paraguayan Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Edmundo Valenzuela Mellid, also indicates that in this effort they must avoid “all violence.”

 

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Washington D.C., Apr 5, 2017 / 04:52 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Religious and political leaders have renewed calls for peace as they decried dozens of reported civilian deaths by poison gas this week in the Syrian conflict.  

“The chemical attack in Syria on April 4 shocks the soul. The many innocent lives targeted by these terrible tools of war cry out for humanity’s protection,” Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Wednesday.

At least 70 people, including children, were reportedly killed in Idlib, Syria on Tuesday by deadly gas after the neighborhood of Khan Sheikhoun was bombed, reportedly by forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

There have been around 200 reported chemical attacks in Syria, the medical care group UOSSM noted. The conflict there has lasted six years. Last year, the UN reported that Syrian government forces and ISIS had used chemical weapons on multiple occasions in 2014 and 2015. The use of chemical weapons is a war crime and violates international law.

“If confirmed, this would constitute the single largest chemical weapons attack in [Syria] since the attack on Eastern Ghouta in August 2013,” Kim Won-Soo, the UN’s High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, said of Tuesday’s incident.

UOSSM, which had doctors working in the targeted area, reported that victims of Tuesday’s bombing were showing symptoms of asphyxiation, foaming of the mouth, and “severe Dyspnoea.”

“Medical facilities are overwhelmed with patients and unequipped to handle chemical attacks of this magnitude,” they stated, adding that “many area hospitals have been put out of service, further complicating the situation.”

Dr. Monzer Yazji, president of UOSSM USA, reporting seeing a “major shortage in doctors, staff, and facilities inside Syria” in a trip there last week. “The attack today has left us all paralyzed. We are unable to properly treat the injured,” Dr. Yazji said.

Reporting on the attack, one activist witness said white smoke covered the vicinity after a bomb dropped, according to Reuters.

However, the Syrian government has denied using chemical weapons on the area, and its Russian allies have claimed that a bomb hit a rebel-held factory manufacturing chemical weapons, which then dispelled the gas.

The UN on Tuesday reported that details of the attack were “still coming in” and that “the attack had reportedly been carried out through an air strike on a residential area” but “the means of delivery could not be confirmed.”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday condemned the “chemical weapons attack” which he said was “the third allegation of the use of such weapons in the past month alone.” President Donald Trump said the attack “crossed a lot of lines” in a Wednesday joint press conference in the White House Rose Garden, with King Abdullah II of Jordan.

“While we continue to monitor the terrible situation, it is clear that this is how Bashar al-Assad operates: with brutal, unabashed barbarism,” he said of the Syrian president. “Those who defend and support him, including Russia and Iran, should have no illusions about Assad or his intentions,” he added, saying that “as the self-proclaimed guarantors to the ceasefire negotiated in Astana, Russia and Iran also bear great moral responsibility for these deaths.”

The advocacy group In Defense of Christians also condemned the attack.

“IDC condemns in the strongest terms the brutal violence and tactics of torture being used by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime with the support of Russian and Iranian forces against civilians in Syria,” IDC executive director Philippe Nassif stated.

Religious and political leaders have called for prayer, for the perpetrators to be held accountable, and for a peaceful end to the conflict which has lasted for over six years.

“In this season of Lent when Christians draw near to the suffering of Christ, let us match the horrific indifference shown for innocent life with a fervent prayer for love to break through the evil,” Cardinal DiNardo said. “Let us also match our prayer with a faithful witness to suffering so that no life at risk is forgotten.”

Pope Francis condemned the attack and offered his prayers “for the victims and their families.”

“I appeal to the conscience of those who have political responsibility, locally and internationally, so that this tragedy may come to an end and relief be brought to that beloved population who for too long have been devastated by war,” he said.

The use of poison gas on civilians is a war crime, but under international criminal law the perpetrator is not known right now with complete certainty, Professor Robert Destro, an international law expert at the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law, explained to CNA.

“We need to know who did it,” he insisted. “There are certain things that you are just not allowed to do.”

There are several actions countries could take to find the perpetrators and hold them accountable, he said, one approach being to use international criminal law, filing an indictment against the guilty party in an international criminal tribunal.

However, for this to take place, world leaders like the U.S., China, and Russia would have to come together, as “the U.S. cannot hold them responsible by itself.”

The international community must start meeting to determine not the best interests of particular countries, he said, but rather “what is in the best interest of people who live in the neighborhood” in Syria.

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Baltimore, Md., Apr 5, 2017 / 06:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Maryland's bishops united in voicing their concerns over the evils of human trafficking, announcing their sponsorship of a statewide initiative aimed at raising awareness of the issue.  

“The evil of human trafficking is an international, national and local scourge, and a grave violation of the dignity and freedom of all its victims,” Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., and Bishop W. Francis Malooly of Wilmington said in an April 3 statement.

“As people of faith, this grave injustice cries out for a response.”

According to the U.S. State Department, upwards of 800,000 victims of trafficking are brought through the U.S. borders every year. Up to 17,500 individuals are also trafficked into the country annually. Globally, the number spikes into an estimated 20 million victims, according to the International Labor Organization.  

The bishops lamented that the state of Maryland also sees a number of trafficked victims, due to Interstate 95, which acts as a hub to other cities, especially with the Baltimore Washington International airport nearby.

The bishops' statement, titled Proclaiming Liberty to Captives, highlighted the duty of Christians to “break the yoke of modern-day slavery,” by raising awareness and supporting organizations that aid victims.

Many efforts are already in place, which rescue trafficked victims and prosecute the perpetrators, such as Maryland's Human Trafficking Task Force, who rescued almost 400 victims from trafficking in 2014.

The bishops voiced their support of these initiatives, and also announced their own sponsorship of regional trainings that will raise awareness of human trafficking around the state.

“The Catholic bishops in Maryland pledge to devote the resources of the Church to support, unify and expand these efforts wherever possible,” the bishops stated.

“To assist in those efforts, the Catholic Church will sponsor regional trainings throughout the state beginning in the spring of 2017, at which we will bring together national, state and local experts who will provide participants with effective tools for combating human trafficking in our local communities.”

As many victims are not aware of their own captivity, the bishops underscored the importance of these new training programs that would help individuals recognize and identify the signs of a trafficked victim.

“Perhaps the most distressing aspect of human trafficking is the cloak of silence gripping its victims,” the bishops said, noting that many victims are vulnerable, poor, or runaways.

“Often, victims are not even aware they are being exploited,” they said, and asked that Catholics in Maryland attend the new training sessions “to recognize, set free, embrace and empower our brothers and sisters who are victims of human trafficking.”

The Maryland bishops are not alone in their concern over the staggering number of human trafficking victims. Pope Francis has also spoken out against the evils of trafficking, calling the injustice a “shameful wound.”

The Holy Father also used his 2015 World Day of Peace address to speak out against trafficking, asking individuals to not “become accomplices to this evil,” but to “have the courage to touch the suffering flesh of Christ.”

“Our commitment to addressing this issue reflects the commitment of the world-wide Church and especially Pope Francis, who from the start of his papacy has spoken passionately about this 'plague on the body of contemporary humanity,'” the bishops said.

The Maryland bishops urged local communities to learn more about human trafficking awareness through the new training programs, and also asked individuals to pray for the end of trafficking.

“We urge Catholics in Maryland to take advantage of these trainings in order to shine a light on this issue.”

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