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Category: World Touch

Stamp For Mother Teresa

Her humility and compassion, as well as her respect for the innate worth and dignity of humankind, inspired people of all ages and backgrounds to work on behalf of the world’s poorest populations. Mother Teresa died in Calcutta in 1997, and is buried there. She had been a citizen of India since 1948.  In 1996, President Bill Clinton and the U.S. Congress awarded Mother Teresa honorary American citizenship. The honor has only been bestowed on five others: Winston Churchill received it in 1963, Raoul Wallenberg in 1981, William Penn and Hannah Callowhill Penn in 1984, and the Marquis de Lafayette in 2002. The stamp features a portrait of Mother Teresa painted by award-winning artist Thomas Blackshear II of Colorado Springs.  

WM

Treasures Of Secret Archives Revealed

High-quality reproductions of 105 documents, 19 of which have never been seen before in public, have been published in a book. The Vatican Secret Archives features a papal letter to Hitler, an entreaty to Rome written on birch bark by a tribe of North American Indians, and a plea from Mary Queen of Scots.  The book documents the Catholic Church’s often hostile dealings with the world of science and of arts, including documents from the heresy trial against Galileo and correspondence exchanged with Erasmus, Voltaire and Mozart.  In a letter dated 1246 from Grand Khan Güyük to Pope Innocent IV, Genghis Khan’s grandson demands that the pontiff travel to central Asia in person – with all of his “kings” in tow – to “pay service and homage to us” as an act of “submission,” threatening that otherwise “you shall be our enemy.” The book also includes letters written to Hitler by Pope Pius XI in 1934 and one received by his controversial successor, Pius XII, from Japan’s Emperor Hirohito.  “An aura of mystery has always surrounded this important cultural institution of the Holy See due to the allusions to inaccessible secrets,” Cardinal Raffaele Farina, a Vatican archivist, writes in the preface to the book, which was produced by a Belgian publisher. Although scholars have had access to the archives since 1881, they remain closed to the public.   

WM

Increase In Number Of Missionaries Killed

Over the past 10 years, 261 Catholic workers have been killed around the world, including 190 priests and four bishops. In December, Pope Benedict condemned the recent deaths of four monks in a number of African countries. Among them was 70-year-old French priest Louis Blondel (photo), who was killed during a burglary at his home in a shanty town north of Johannesburg, South Africa. 

WM

The Nagoya Protocol

The scale of the destruction can only be truly appreciated when viewed from the perspective of biological time. The last period such an extinction spasm happened was 65 million years ago at the end of the Mesozoic (Middle Life) era. Most researchers agree that the Mesozoic Era ended, at least in part, because of the impact of an asteroid in what is now the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. The current extinction is not due to external factors, but to one creature within the biosphere – humankind. We do not set out directly to cause the extinction of other species. However, our increasing number and escalating demands have led to widespread deforestation, the conversion of many habitats to agricultural land, the over exploitation of many species, especially in the oceans. All of these have had a devastating impact on the rest of life on earth. The Convention on Biodiversity emerged from the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The objective is to protect biodiversity and to ensure that there is a fair and equitable distribution of any financial benefits derived from biological and genetic resources. The Nagoya meeting wrestled with these questions and ratified the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits (ABS). Initially, governments from the global North and especially Northern biotech and pharmaceutical corporations were opposed to sharing the benefits of biological resources with countries from the global South, where the biological and genetic resources originated. They feared that lawsuits might be brought against them for some products which they developed based on biological resources from countries in the South. Under the Nagoya Protocol, a multi-billion dollar fund will be set up to compensate countries in the Global South for any benefits which accrue from the commercial use of their biological resources. The Protocol is potentially worth billions of dollars to countries which are rich in biodiversity and could act as an incentive for them to protect the biodiversity of their forests and marine resources.  The Nagoya meeting also drew up a strategic plan to conserve biodiversity in the period between 2010 and 2020. The delegates from the 193 countries agreed to protect 17% of the land area of the world and 10% of the oceans by 2020. At the moment, about 13% of the land area of the world and only 1% of the oceans are protected areas. Details of the roadmap to achieve the above targets by 2020 are quite vague and critics say that the targets are not ambitious enough.  In all of these discussions, the cost of commitments is always close to the surface. Unfortunately, richer countries were slow to produce their checkbooks at Nagoya. The paucity of financial resources to protect biodiversity led Jim Leape, the director general of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), to complain that: “We were disappointed that most rich countries came to Nagoya with empty pockets – unable or unwilling to provide the resources that will make it

Fr. Seán McDonagh, SSC

After The Massacre, The “Dilemma”

Fr. Vincent, who has lived in Iraq for 40 years and teaches at Babel College in Baghdad, the college affiliated with the Pontifical Urban University, has issued a heartfelt testimony: “We are living something that is really terrible. There had never been a massacre of such magnitude, all within a church during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. I have visited the church and listened to the testimonies of the faithful in shock. The terrorists mercilessly killed women and children. The community is traumatized. The church looked like a cemetery.”During the massacre, the Christian community in Baghdad has lost two young Syro-Catholic priests, Fr. Wasim Sabieh and Fr. Thaier Saad Abdal (gravely wounded, a third priest, Chorepiscop Fr. Rufail Quataimi, died later in the hospital). “What a tragedy! The two priests, not yet in their thirties, were my students at the Babel College. They were very active in Bible apostolate, in interfaith dialogue, and charity. Fr. Thaier was in charge of a Center for Islamic Studies, and Fr. Wasin was very involved in helping poor families. We will miss them,” says Fr. Vincent. The Redemptorist recalls that days later “a number of attacks hit Baghdad and Shiite areas, which means that not only Christians are under attack, but the whole area is flooded by terrorism. It is hard to see a hopeful future for the nation right now,” he says. “We do not know who is behind these acts, nor where the nation is headed. Meanwhile, the people suffer. There are such great evils that beset the country.” Hence, the dilemma for Christians: “The faithful say their life has become impossible. Many Christian families are organizing themselves to leave the country. The excruciating dilemma is whether to flee in search of a better future, or stay, risking their lives. In this tragic moment, the bishops have a great responsibility to speak to the faithful, to give them reasons and hopes, to convince them to stay. The task of our pastors, today, is very difficult,” he remarked. The funeral of the victims “was attended by many Muslim leaders who asked the government to defend Christians. We hope that, after yet another massacre, civil authorities listen to the cry of Christians in Iraq and place an end to their suffering.”  On the occasion of the funeral, celebrated on November 2, the Holy Father Benedict XVI sent the following message to Archbishop Athanase Matti Shaba Matoka, Archbishop of Baghdad for the Syro-Catholics: “Deeply moved by the violent death of so many faithful and their priests Tha’ir Saad and Boutros Wasim, I wish, during the sacred funeral rite, to share spiritually on this occasion and pray that these our brothers and sisters are welcomed by the mercy of Christ into the Father’s House. For years, this country has been suffering untold hardships and even Christians have become the subject of brutal attacks that, in total disregard of life – an inviolable gift from God – seek to undermine confidence and peace. I renew my

www.fides.org

Catholic Seminary Opens After 50 Years

The new formation center was built in the Archdiocese of San Cristobal de la Havana and as planned, it will be attended by a hundred students. The first stone of the religious building was blessed by Pope John Paul II during a Mass celebrated in Havana on January 25, 1998, at the end of his historic visit to the island, but construction work has begun just recently, when the Cuban government began to show a more tolerant attitude towards the Catholic Church. The construction of the seminary was mainly financed by the Order of the Knights of Columbus in the United States of America. The international press, as well as local and foreign analysts, have noted that the Church has begun to play an increasingly significant role in the social life of the country. On July 7 of this year, thanks to the efforts of the Archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Jaime Ortega y Alamino, Cuban authorities released 52 political dissidents and allowed them to leave the country. In addition, the Catholic Church has repeatedly called for a liberalization of political and economic life in the country.  

www.fides.org

To Eradicate Poverty Is An Obligation

The prelate noted that “poverty is a reality even in so-called affluent societies, and not just in economically poorer countries.” And added: “Poverty profoundly affects the dignity of the human person. The human person deprived of the basic conditions to live decently, is humiliated, and must, therefore, be helped to recover. (…) It affects mainly those who are not capable of a decent livelihood, especially the children, the disabled, the elderly, and women. In fact, almost half of those living in absolute poverty today are children.”  “Unfortunately,” Archbishop Chullikatt noted, “the combined food, fuel, and financial crises since 2008 have slowed down, and even reversed progress towards eradication of poverty in many developing countries around the world.” The prelate reported that “64 million more people are estimated to be living in extreme poverty in 2010 while some 40 million more went hungry last year because of the food, fuel, and financial crises.” He continued: “By 2015, 1.2 million more children under five may die, 350,000 more students may not complete primary school, and some 100 million more people may remain without access to safe water. Now, more than ever, is the time to recommit efforts towards such poverty eradication.” The Archbishop asserted that “eradication of poverty should not be considered as an act of charity but rather as an obligation of the international community.” “We have the means to bring poverty to an end,” he concluded. “Let us now demonstrate to the skeptics that we have the will to alleviate the suffering of those who go without the basic needs that everyone should have!”    

www.zenit.org

Reversing The Resources Curse

The theme of the competition among global powers in the hoarding of African resources and the impact of this new “scramble for Africa” on the continent’s development were the focus of the workshop, sponsored by the Institute for International Policy Studies (ISPI) and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The seminar, held in Rome, was attended by several journalists and experts on African issues. The discussion showed that, due to the fact that traditional Western partners in Africa are faced with increasing competition of other powers (ranging from China to India, from Russia to Brazil), African countries can negotiate more advantageous contracts in handing over their natural resources. However, there is still the problem of corruption among the African ruling elite, which undermines the possibility of using the “royalties” of mining concessions to improve the conditions of the population and diversify African economies which are still too dependent on monocultures and the mining sector alone. In several African countries, there is, however, an emerging civil society that is asking its own leaders to give accounts of financial resources gained from the exploitation of minerals and oil. Among the most active in this field are several bishops’ conferences and individual bishops such as Comboni Bishop Michele Russo, Bishop of Doba in Chad, who launched an appeal asking that African resources be used to improve the living conditions of its inhabitants. Africa, a continent in turmoil, whose population has recently exceeded one billion inhabitants, has a huge economic potential, yet untapped. Most of its natural resources, in fact, have not yet been taken advantage of. The arrival of new economic partners could change that. However, as pointed out in the final conclusions of the seminar, including those of South-South cooperation, Africa is likely to remain the junior partner, as it has yet to do some “catching-up,” even in comparison to Asian and South American partners.    

www.fides.org

Excessive Copyright Protection

A delegation of the Holy See told a gathering of the World Intellectual Property Organization that Pope Benedict is troubled by the “excessive zeal” with which rich countries have been protecting their intellectual property rights, especially when it comes to health care in developing countries, reports the ZeroPaid website. “On the part of rich countries, there is excessive zeal for protecting knowledge through an unduly rigid assertion of the right to intellectual property, especially in the field of health care,” Pope Benedict says in an encyclical letter quoted by the delegation at the 48th World Intellectual Property Organization General Assembly. The report said copyright holdings have become the bedrock of profits for an array of business interests, multinational corporations like those in the movie and music industry, in particular, and there has been an increasing push to protect them at all costs, even to the detriment of society and culture. “The raison d’être of the protection system of intellectual property is the promotion of literary, scientific or artistic production and, generally, of inventive activity for the sake of the ‘common good’,” said the delegation. “Thus protection officially attests the right of the author or inventor to recognition of the ownership of his work and to a degree of economic reward. At the same time, it serves the cultural and material progress of society as a whole.”   

WM

Priest Gets Peace Award For Activism

Dear’s activism in peace includes being arrested more than 75 times in nonviolent civil disobedience demonstrations. He also is a speaker, author of 25 books, pastor and Red Cross chaplain. The awardee, a New Mexico-based priest who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, commented though: “Being in jail is terrible. It’s not easy at all.” His pathway toward activism began while making a pilgrimage to Israel in 1982. The young man was eager to view the land where Jesus lived. During the summer trek, he camped out by the Sea of Galilee and thought of Christ telling followers “blessed are the peacemakers.” However, peace proved elusive that summer as Israel and neighbor Lebanon engaged in battle. Dear warily watched jets flying overhead on bombing missions and resolved to do something constructive to promote peace.  Dear adamantly refuses to halt his efforts toward helping humanity to establish peace on earth and peace within themselves. “War is not the will of God. War is never blessed by God … and frankly war doesn’t work,” he said.   www.qctimes.com /   

Mary Louise Speer
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