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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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tourism, by “bringing us closer to creation in its variety and wealth, can be an occasion to promote and increase the religious experience.” The Catholic Church, in the year the United Nations dedicated to biodiversity, is urging everyone to pay closer attention to humankind’s responsibility towards nature, even when people seek rest and leisure.
Fr. Sebastiano D’Ambra, PIME, the founder of the Silsilah Dialogue Movement, was honored on July 22, 2010 by the Ateneo de Manila University with the Bukas Palad Award. The awarding ceremony was held at the Erwin Shaw Theater on the Loyola Heights campus of the university. Other awardees at this year’s ceremony were Monsignor José C. Bernardo, Jr., also for the Bukas Palad Award; Federico Aguilar Alcuaz for the Gawad Tanglaw ng Lahi; and Dr. Alfredo R. A. Bengzon for Lux-in-Domino Award.
