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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.
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. 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
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.
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!”
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.
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.”
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 /
As partners with Caritas Internationalis, the Catholic Church’s umbrella humanitarian and development agency, both organizations pushed the G-8 leaders to boost their commitment to women’s and children’s health concerns under the Muskoka Initiative. The development groups also urged the related Group of 20 Economic Summit in Toronto to step up efforts to reduce extreme poverty worldwide by 2015 as outlined in the Millennium Development Goals established by the United Nations. But representatives of the world’s leading economies at both summits were focused on other concerns as the worldwide recession continues. “We’ve entered a world where the only language that matters is economics,” Redemptorist Father Paul Hansen, Director of his Order’s Biblical Justice Consultancy, said after the motorcades disappeared and the dignitaries left town. The leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies agreed to cut their governments’ deficits in half by 2013 and stop growth of public debt relative to gross domestic product by 2016. Voluntary financial constraints on government borrowing will allow poorer countries to participate in a healthier world economy, the final G-20 statement argued. “Increasing global growth on a sustainable basis is the most important step we can take in improving the lives of all of our citizens, including those in the poorest countries,” the world leaders said. But Father Hansen was disappointed that G-20 leaders chose to ignore the opportunity to clamp down on speculation in financial markets. “What we have developed is no longer an economy based on goods and services, but an economy based on paper, transfer of hot money, currency speculation, derivatives, hedge funds that have zero basis in goods and services,” he said. The money pledged for women’s and children’s health concerns for the first time included funds from private foundations. Non G-8 countries, including Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland, also pledged funds to the effort. The United Nations estimates that between $15 billion and $33 billion is needed by 2015 to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health enough to satisfy the Millennium Development Goals. The United Nations pegs the G-8 share of the total at about $20 billion. About 9 million children per year die of diseases that are easily treatable with inexpensive immunizations, proper nutrition and better health care for pregnant women. Hemorrhages, infection, obstructed labor and very high blood pressure leading to seizures cause more than 350,000 preventable deaths annually among pregnant women. A group of Canadian aid agencies lobbied for a $24 billion fund over five years. Ikem Opara, Program Coordinator for Canadian Jesuits International, was pleased that the G-8 did not entirely walk away from the Muskoka Initiative. “That gave me some hope,” Opara said. “From my own experience growing up in Nigeria, those were the two things that seemed to affect everybody’s day-to-day life the most, child mortality and what maternal health meant.” To make significant progress toward the development goals, food security issues also must be addressed, he said. The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace believes the G-20 took
Despite the cold winter in the Northern hemisphere, the global temperature this year reached its warmest on record. This is based on a twelve-month-rolling average, according to Dr. James Hansen, the top American climate scientist who works at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In an article published on the NASA website in June 2010, Hansen and his three co-authors claim that the mean surface temperature in the year through April 2010 was 0.65 degrees Celsius warmer than the period between 1951 and 1980. NASA scientists came to this conclusion after reviewing data from 6,300 monitoring stations around the world. Hansen is adamant that this data demonstrates that climate change is taking place. Michael Grubb, a member of the UK Climate Change Committee, a body which advises the UK government on climate change, said that, “Hansen’s paper looks like a modest addition to the continuing build-up of evidence,” for climate change. This is particularly important since concerns about climate change have been pushed to the political ‘back-burner’ for a number of reasons. Firstly, the winter of 2009/2010 was an unusually cold winter in China, Europe and North America. Secondly, climate sceptics have launched a well organised campaign, casting doubts on climate change data which has been produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Thirdly, there has been continuing fall-out from controversy at the UK’s University of East Anglia, where scientists have been accused of dissent on climate change. Grubb believes that “the public perception (on climate change) has been radically impacted by a short campaign” (by climate sceptics) and that this is “deeply troubling if you want a sensible long-term solution to climate change.” Grubb is hopeful that Hansen’s findings will reinvigorate attempts by governments to reach a fair, ambitious and binding agreement on greenhouse gases at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change which is scheduled for December, 2010 in Mexico. Many places, especially in Asia and Africa, are feeling the heat at this time. According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), the first four months of 2010 were the hottest ever measured, with record temperatures in North Africa, South Asia and Canada. In May and June 2010, heat waves hit Pakistan and India. Six people died and dozens more fell ill as temperatures soared to 47 degrees Celsius (116 Fahrenheit) in central Pakistan on May 21 and 22, 2010. These land temperatures were measured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. In the ancient city of Mohenjo-daro on the banks of the Indus, where civilization flourished over 4,000 years ago, temperatures reached 53.7 degrees Celsius on June 1, 2010. This is the fourth hottest temperature ever recorded. Previous highs were in 1922, when a record temperature of 57.8 degrees Celsius, the hottest temperature reached, was recorded at al-Aziziyah in Libya. This was followed by a temperature of 56.7 degrees Celsius recorded in Death Valley in California in 1913, and the third hottest, at 53.9 degrees Celsius, was
