Catholic News 2
By the time a lawsuit over pollution from a nuclear weapons plant had reached Judge Neil Gorsuch, it had crawled through the courts for more than two decades, outliving some of the landowners who said the contamination destroyed their property values....
EVERETT, Wash. (AP) -- As deaths from painkillers and heroin abuse spiked and street crimes increased, the mayor of Everett took major steps to tackle the opioid epidemic devastating this working-class city north of Seattle....
LONDON (AP) -- Britain's Parliament has told Prime Minister Theresa May she can file for divorce from the European Union. She will send the formal letter by the end of March. Then comes the hard part - the arguments, the lawyers, the squabbles over money....
NEW YORK (AP) -- The White House and its allies are stepping up their attacks on a foe typically associated with fragile democracies, military coups and spy thrillers....
A powerful nor'easter hit the Northeast on Tuesday after a largely uneventful winter, dropping up to 2 feet of snow in some places, grounding thousands of flights and leading to school and work closures along the coast....
NEW YORK (AP) -- A blustery, late-season storm clobbered the Northeast with sleet and heavy snow Tuesday, crippling much of the Washington-to-Boston corridor after a stretch of unusually mild winter weather that had people thinking spring was already here....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Congressional Budget Office report on a Republican health care bill has set off an intense reaction in Washington, and some on both sides of the debate are playing loose with the facts....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House and Republican leaders in Congress scrambled on Tuesday to shore up support for their health care bill as critics went on the attack over new estimates that 14 million people would lose insurance coverage in the first year alone....
(Vatican Radio) Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic has urged the international community to “embrace the perspective of victims” of the Syrian war.In a statement delivered to Human Rights Council of the United Nations in Geneva, Jurkovic reflected on the disastrous situation that continues to unfold in Syria after more than six years of violence.Jurkovic, who is the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN and Other International Organizations in Geneva, reiterated the Holy See’s solidarity with the Syrian people and called “all involved parties to engage in a serious dialogue and to work towards a future of peace and justice”.Please find below the Statement by Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic at the 34thSession of the Human Rights Council:Item 4 – Interactive Dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (Geneva, 14 March 2017)Mr. President,The Report of the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, as well as other sources, &n...
(Vatican Radio) Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic has urged the international community to “embrace the perspective of victims” of the Syrian war.
In a statement delivered to Human Rights Council of the United Nations in Geneva, Jurkovic reflected on the disastrous situation that continues to unfold in Syria after more than six years of violence.
Jurkovic, who is the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN and Other International Organizations in Geneva, reiterated the Holy See’s solidarity with the Syrian people and called “all involved parties to engage in a serious dialogue and to work towards a future of peace and justice”.
Please find below the Statement by Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic at the 34thSession of the Human Rights Council:
Item 4 – Interactive Dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (Geneva, 14 March 2017)
Mr. President,
The Report of the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, as well as other sources, depict all too well the disastrous situation that continues to unfold after more than six years of violence: hundreds of thousands of victims and wounded; family-life disrupted; infrastructure, houses, schools, hospitals, and places of worship wrecked; entire cities ravaged; malnutrition and inadequate medical care. This is the grim reality that the Syrian people face every day.
The Holy See wishes to reiterate its solidarity with the Syrian people and especially with the victims of violence, and encourages the international community to embrace the perspective of victims. Six years of senseless slaughter expose once again the illusion, and the futility, of war as a mean to settle disputes. The ambition for political power and selfish interests, combined with the complicity of those stirring up violence and hatred by supplying considerable amounts of resources and weapons, have resulted in an exodus of 5 million people from Syria since 2011, leaving behind another 13.5 million people in need, with about half of them being children.
Confronted with these numbers, dialogue on all levels is the only way forward. While my Delegation welcomes the small steps adopted recently in this regard, we wish to stress that there can be no military solution to the situation in Syria. We must not succumb to the logic of violence, as violence only begets violence.
Mr. President,
It is unacceptable that children often pay the ultimate price during such conflicts: “Some of them know no other life than war. Others were born under bombings. They suffer enormous psychological pressure…Rarely does a smile appear on their faces. Suffering comes through in their frightened eyes. They wake up under the sound of explosions, bombs, and rockets”
Pope Francis has expressed repeatedly his closeness to the Syrian people, especially to “…the young people affected by the brutal conflict in Syria, deprived of the joys of childhood and youth, such as the ability to play games and to attend school”
Mr. President,
My Delegation wishes to make an appeal that peace, forgiveness and reconciliation can triumph over violence and resentment. Six years of ongoing conflict indicate the failure of the international community at large. The situation in Syria is our common responsibility as a family of nations. The rights of the Syrian people, regardless of their religious or ethnic identity, must be protected as all Syrians share the just aspirations to justice and peace, fundamental elements of integral human development. In this regard, it is of the utmost importance that religious and ethnic minorities do not become the pawns of geopolitical trade-offs, but be fully involved in a transparent and inclusive negotiating process, with equal rights and equal responsibilities, as this is the only way to build a peaceful future.
In conclusion, my Delegation wishes to emphasize that the dignity inherent in every human person must take every precedence over power and revenge. The unjust suffering of the innocent victims of this senseless slaughter should motivate all involved parties to engage in a serious dialogue and to work towards a future of peace and justice.
Thank you, Mr. President.
(Vatican Radio) Hunger-related illnesses have killed dozens of children over the past two months at just one government-run hospital in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. That’s according to the United Nations. A severe drought has brought Somalia to the brink of famine.There are currently 6.2 million people in need of assistance in Somalia, almost half of the country's population.Bishop Giorgio Bertin, the Apostolic Administrator of Mogadishu spoke to Lydia O’Kane about the desperate situation facing people in the country as a result of drought and insecurity.Listen: “It is a severe crisis”, he said, “because the last two rainy seasons have been almost completely missed in several parts of Somalia but for the specific case of Somalia the problem of drought is coupled with insecurity.”He goes on to say that although there is a recognized government, it governs only part of Mogadishu and some other areas and therefore, “the lack o...
(Vatican Radio) Hunger-related illnesses have killed dozens of children over the past two months at just one government-run hospital in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. That’s according to the United Nations. A severe drought has brought Somalia to the brink of famine.
There are currently 6.2 million people in need of assistance in Somalia, almost half of the country's population.
Bishop Giorgio Bertin, the Apostolic Administrator of Mogadishu spoke to Lydia O’Kane about the desperate situation facing people in the country as a result of drought and insecurity.
Listen:
“It is a severe crisis”, he said, “because the last two rainy seasons have been almost completely missed in several parts of Somalia but for the specific case of Somalia the problem of drought is coupled with insecurity.”
He goes on to say that although there is a recognized government, it governs only part of Mogadishu and some other areas and therefore, “the lack of real institutions is the other cause of this terrible situation.”
Church response
Asked about the Church’s response to the current crisis, Bishop Bertin said that Caritas Somalia and its partners CRS and Trocaire as well as other Catholic charities and the Consolata Sisters were responding to the crisis.
The people, noted the Apostolic Administrator, “feel particularly desperate”. He went on to say that that they are watching their sheep, goats, camels dying in the fields, adding that when they see their animals dying, they know that it will be them next.
