Category: World Touch

CMMA

Hall of Fame for World Mission

After having been distinguished as the Best Local Community/Parish Newspaper for the last three consecutive years, World Mission was awarded a Hall of Fame trophy at the 32nd Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA).

Malaysia

Say “Yahweh” instead of “Allah”?

Several representatives from the Malaysian government, such as Minister Idris Jala, a Christian, are visiting the Christian communities in Malaysia, trying to convince Christian citizens to abandon the term “Allah” and use “Yahweh” in the texts in the liturgy and in publications.

Unemployment Triggers Social Unrest

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the high levels of unemployment caused by the financial and economic crisis have already caused social unrest in at least 25 countries. And the situation can deteriorate worldwide because this United Nations work agency foresees a long labor market recession that will affect even some recovering emerging economies.

World

Climate Change and Extreme Weather

Extreme weather is one of the clearest signals that climate change is happening. During the first part of August 2010, news of extreme weather in various parts of the world was seldom off the headlines. Pakistan suffered its worst monsoon-related floods in 80 years. More than 1,600 people were reported dead, though the real number is probably a multiple of that figure. Rivers burst their banks sweeping away houses, food crops, roads and bridges, leaving areas, such as Gilgit Baltistan, cut off from the rest of the country. The extreme flooding in the Swat valley was partly due to the fact that, since the Taliban took over, the area’s forests had been chopped down at an alarming rate. By the end of the first week of August, it was estimated that around 12 million people have been affected.

Taizé

Ecumenism of Holiness

World Christian leaders are paying tribute to the ecumenical community of Taizé in eastern France, which is marking its foundation in 1940 by Brother Roger Schütz (see photos), who died in 2005. In a message to Brother Alois, who now heads the community, the Pope described Schütz as a “pioneer in the difficult paths toward unity among the disciples of Christ.” And considered the founder’s “ecumenism of holiness” as an inspiration in “our march toward unity.”

Non-Catholics Influenced Council’s Liberalization

A new analysis of voting patterns among bishops at the Second Vatican Council points to the indirect influence of non-Catholic Churches in the Council’s liberalization of the Catholic Church.

Vatican

Church’s Missionary Role is to Reveal Jesus

In today’s world, marked by loneliness and indifference, Christians must learn to offer “signs of hope,” “cultivating the great ideals that transform history” and the world. This calls for better awareness and to “show” Jesus and His message of love to the world. This is the underlying meaning of World Mission Sunday – which will be celebrated October 24 – explained by Benedict XVI in his message devoted to it.

255 Killed and 700 Kidnapped in CAR and DRC

More than 700 adults and children have been abducted in a largely unreported massive abduction campaign started by the Ugandan rebel, Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), in Central African Republic (CAR) and the neighboring Bas Uele district of northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), denounces Human Rights Watch (HRW). Nearly one-third of those abducted are children, many of whom are being forced to serve as soldiers or are being used for sex by the group’s fighters, the report says.

Rome

Evidence of St. Peter’s Prison Found

Archaeologists have found evidence supporting a traditional belief that St. Peter was jailed in Rome’s maximum security Mamertine Prison before he was crucified and buried on the hill where St. Peter’s Basilica was later built.

Philippines

Mindanao is the Worst Place for Children

The Philippines will likely fail in meeting its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 in conflict-affected Mindanao, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns. And adds: “If it wants to achieve the MDGs without major disparities, then focus must be put on Mindanao where the indicators are far below many of the national averages,” Vanessa Tobin, UNICEF country representative, said in Manila.

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