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Category: World Touch
World Touch

A Cross–cultural Spiritual Explorer

Sister Kateri Mitchell was born and raised at the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation along the St. Lawrence River. She grew up hearing stories about Kateri Tekakwitha, the 17th–century Mohawk woman who was declared a saint in the Roman Catholic Church on October 21. Hundreds of people visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs in Auriesville, NY on Saturday, July 21, 2012. The shrine is the site of the 17th–century Mohawk village of Ossernenon. Three French Jesuit missionaries were martyred there in bringing the Catholic faith to the new world. A stained glass window of Kateri Tekakwitha is in the Martyrs and Kateri Chapels. Kateri, a Mohawk, was born here.

Renee K. Gadoua
World Touch

Farewell to a Church’s Giant

Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, Archbishop Emeritus of Milan, was buried on September 3. Born in 1927, he died on August 31, at 85, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. During the three days that his body laid in state in Milan’s Duomo, over two hundred thousand people passed quietly before his mortal remains to pay their respects and give thanks to God for their beloved shepherd. His funeral, which was attended by a big crowd, was very much like a state funeral, televised throughout Italy and in many other countries.

Manuel Giraldes | Journalist
World Touch

Leprosy on the Rise

India has recorded more than 127,000 fresh cases of leprosy in 2011-12. Junior Health Minister Sudip Bandyopadhyay said the state of Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 24,627 cases, followed by Maharashtra with 17,892 cases and Bihar, with 17,801. According to the Waorld Health Organization (WHO), India accounted for 54% of the total number of leprosy cases detected worldwide in 2010, which came to 228,474.

Ritu Sharma
World Touch

Banking Breast Milk to Save Lives

The Philippine government’s state-run breast milk bank is intensifying collection efforts to boost breastfeeding among the poor and help women return to work immediately after giving birth if they want to do so. Hundreds of women come to deliver their babies at the Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital, the busiest maternity institution in Manila, the capital, where more than 12 million people live. Many women are barely able to afford even the minimal payment and, to help cover their costs, some of them donate breast milk to the hospital’s milk bank, which is used to feed babies whose mothers have lactation problems.

Irin News

Is a New Food Crisis Brewing?

The international media jumped at the lower output forecasts for US maize and soybeans and wheat from Russia in 2012/13 as evidence that a food crisis is almost certainly on the way. But a range of economists and food experts also warne against overreaction that could create panic, causing governments to apply export controls that would restrict supplies of grains. This would affect markets and push prices still higher, they say.

Irin News

Is a New Food Crisis Brewing?

The international media jumped at the lower output forecasts for US maize and soybeans and wheat from Russia in 2012/13 as evidence that a food crisis is almost certainly on the way. But a range of economists and food experts also warne against overreaction that could create panic, causing governments to apply export controls that would restrict supplies of grains. This would affect markets and push prices still higher, they say.

Irin News
Philippines

Fewer Filipinos Marry Due to Poverty

Fewer Filipinos have been tying the knot in the past decade as marriage has taken a low priority for courting couples because of rising poverty. The recent National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) Report on the declining number of marriages from 2001 to 2010, particularly church weddings, was “only a manifestation of the poverty and helplessness of the majority in our country today,” said Pangasinan Rep. Kimi Cojuangco.

UCA News
World Touch

A Story of Courage and Compassion

The Congregation of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd has launched an initiative to support women and children experiencing domestic abuse. The numbers are shocking. In Taiwan, in 2008 alone, there were 75,438 cases known to the government. In 2009, the number rose to 83,728; in 2010, to 98,720. Approaching women and their children who are victims of domestic violence, giving them the courage to denounce their men and also assisting in psychological terms to help them create a new and safer life are among their tasks. This is the support service recently started by the Sisters, which has now become a documentary, to raise public awareness of family violence and encourage the public to be aware of their right to a safe and secure existence.

www.asianews.it
World Touch

Rio+20 to Seek a Sustainable, Global Future

Twenty years ago, a 12-year-old girl stood before government officials from most of the world’s countries and pleaded for her future. Worried about pollution and overuse of natural resources on her finite planet, she begged: “If you don’t know how to fix it, please don’t break it!” The occasion was the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, which ended with the world’s countries committing – at least on paper – to make environmental concerns a priority and eliminate unsustainable forms of production and consumption. Above all, delegates agreed that development must not jeopardize the welfare of future generations. Another go at sustainability: Canadian Severn Cullis-Suzuki, who pleaded on behalf of her generation in 1992, returned to Rio in late June for the Rio+20 Summit.

Brian Roewe
World Touch

Tragic Numbers and a Somber Reality

Recently, UNICEF released its latest annual report, titled “The State of the World’s Children 2012: Children in an Urban World,” which examines the plight of children and young people living in urban environments. A rather cold, aseptic foreword, considers the scandalous reality that emerges from the report. Reading through it, we perceive, beyond the numbers, the suffering of millions of children, their tears, and their cries for help. This data should upset us and commit us to the pursuit of radical change.

Fr. Renato Kizito Sesana, MCCJ
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