(Vatican Radio) A new report released this week says the forced internal displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is making them poorer and keeping them in misery and despair.The document entitled “No Place Like Home” was issued by the International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity (CIDSE), an alliance of Catholic development agencies which says the current status quo is unsustainable.Janet Symes, Head of Region for the Middle East and Asia with Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, CAFOD spoke to Lydia O’Kane.Listen: Ms Symes points out that , “in 2016 there were 1,593 people displaced which is double the figure from 2015 and that 290 homes were demolished… so those are the statistics, but the reality of that is that people are losing their homes…”Legal aidAsked about what help is available both on a humanitarian and legal level, she says “as CAFOD we support one of our partner agencies,...
(Vatican Radio) A new report released this week says the forced internal displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is making them poorer and keeping them in misery and despair.
The document entitled “No Place Like Home” was issued by the International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity (CIDSE), an alliance of Catholic development agencies which says the current status quo is unsustainable.
Janet Symes, Head of Region for the Middle East and Asia with Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, CAFOD spoke to Lydia O’Kane.
Listen:
Ms Symes points out that , “in 2016 there were 1,593 people displaced which is double the figure from 2015 and that 290 homes were demolished… so those are the statistics, but the reality of that is that people are losing their homes…”
Legal aid
Asked about what help is available both on a humanitarian and legal level, she says “as CAFOD we support one of our partner agencies, the Jerusalem Legal Aid Centre and they provide legal assistance to Palestinians who have received demolition orders.” She goes on to say that this aid is absolutely crucial for people who have no money to pay for legal fees and who don’t know where to start in order to get the help they need.
International response
So, what can the international community do in order to contribute to peace efforts in the region? Ms Symes says a huge amount can be done if there is “the political will for a peace process”. She goes to stress that, “it’s really important that efforts are made to reignite that peace process; it’s also very very important to ensure that all sides recognize and have a respect for human rights, are complying with international law and that democratic values are being promoted.”
null / Credit: ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 2, 2024 / 18:20 pm (CNA).The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) released a pair of emergency rules that it said are aimed at combating "misinformation" and a "deeply dishonest scare campaign" by the Biden administration about the state's new six-week pro-life law. The rules, published on May 1, establish guidance for lifesaving measures and clarify that certain procedures, including treatment for ectopic pregnancies, are not considered abortion and remain legal under the Florida Heartbeat Protection Act, which went into effect on Wednesday. This comes amid significant criticism over the state's pro-life law that prohibits abortions on women after six weeks of pregnancy except for in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is in danger. The new AHCA rules further clarify those exceptions. "The agency finds there is an immediate danger to th...
Oviedo Archbishop Jesús Sanz Montes accused the government of focusing "in a biased and manipulative way on the problem of pedophilia as something attributable only to the Catholic Church." / Credit: Archdiocese of OviedoACI Prensa Staff, May 2, 2024 / 18:50 pm (CNA)."They have done it again. It is a kind of obsessive mantra every time they need a smokescreen to distract from the real problems we have and to which they so clumsily and insidiously apply their tortuous governance."That is how the archbishop of Oviedo, Jesús Sanz Montes, began a letter released this week titled "The Accusing Rattle" in which he responds to the socialist government's announcement of an exclusive plan to address sexual and power abuses committed within the Catholic Church.In the opinion of the prelate, the country's executive "has tried to focus in a biased and manipulative way on the problem of pedophilia as something attributable only to the Catholic Church, which represents an exclusive...
Pope Francis meets with 300 priests taking part in the World Meeting of Parish Priests on May 2, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, May 2, 2024 / 12:41 pm (CNA).Pope Francis published a letter on Thursday addressed to all parish priests in the world with his advice for building a missionary Church in which all the baptized share in the mission of proclaiming the Gospel."Parish communities increasingly need to become places from which the baptized set out as missionary disciples and to which they return, full of joy, in order to share the wonders worked by the Lord through their witness," Pope Francis wrote in the letter published on May 2.The pope presented the letter to 300 priests participating in the Synod on Synodality's "World Meeting of Parish Priests" during an audience at the Vatican, saying that their meeting is "an opportunity to remember in my prayers all of the parish priests in the world to whom I address these words with great affection."P...