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Category: World Touch

Priests and the Digital World

“The priest and the pastoral ministry in the digital world: new media at the service of the Word” is the theme chosen by Benedict XVI for the 44th World Day for Social Communications (that will be celebrated on the Sunday before Pentecost, which in 2010 falls on May 16). Commenting on the theme chosen by the Pope, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications said “the main task of the priest is to proclaim the Word of God made flesh, man and history, thus becoming a sign of the communion that God makes with man. The effectiveness of this ministry then requires that the priest lives an intimate relationship with God, rooted in a deep love and deep knowledge of scripture, written ‘witness’ of the Word of God.”

Asia News
World Touch

Gandhi: A Man of Peace in the Footsteps of Jesus

In an era marked by “growing” conflicts in “our beloved land,” as in “many parts of the world,” today, more than ever, there is a need to promote the “powerful message of non-violence” or “ Ahimsa, as the Father of the nation called it.” These were the words of Msgr. Thomas Menamparampil, Archbishop of Guwahati, to mark the 140th year of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2, which is also International Day of Non-violence.

Nirmala Carvalho
Lebanon

Christians Tempted to Flee Rising “Islamization”

Christians are tempted to flee Lebanon as the country becomes increasingly “Islamized,” according to the founder of the Center for Arab Christian Research and Documentation (CEDRAC). One-third of the nation’s Christian population has left since the beginning of the 1975-90 civil war, and a recent surge in emigration means Christians now make up just 34% of Lebanon’s population, Father Samir Khalil, a Jesuit teacher at Beirut’s St. Joseph University’s CEDRAC department, told Vatican Radio.

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World Touch

Agriculture “Largely Ignored” in Climate Talks

Agriculture is in danger of being ignored in any final deal made would be made at the key climate talks in Copenhagen in December, says a top negotiator. Michael Zammit-Cutajar, who chairs the working group on financing for adaptation measures in developing countries, said agriculture was “flagged” in the working text but would probably not get more of a mention than that.

Irin News
World Touch

Don’t Pass the Buck on Climate Issue

Benedict XVI says that neither the poor nor future generations should pay the price for current waste of shared resources, and he urged governments to take responsibility for the environment. The Pope gave this exhortation in a video message taken from a general audience by which he addressed the U.N. summit on climate change. The meeting was a lead-up to this December’s event in Copenhagen.

www.zenit.org
World Touch

Experts Expect Super Typhoons to Cause a Lot of Damage

Japanese weathermen predict that global warming will spawn ‘supertyphoons’ in the second half of this century that will hit coastal Japan, causing unprecedented damages. However, typhoons and tropical storms have already sown death and destruction in the Philippines, Taiwan, China and Vietnam.

Pino Cazzaniga
World Touch

Trees “Vital for Food Security”

Countries tackling food insecurity and climate change adaptation can greatly benefit from agroforestry – integrating fleshy plants and trees into their farming systems, environmental specialists say. Those in Sub-Saharan Africa, that have a history of food insecurity brought on by meager rains, land degradation, declining soil fertility and bad management of resources, would have much to gain.

Irin News
Uncategorized

To Respect God is to Respect Nature

Where God is respected, so is nature, affirmed Benedict XVI. Noting the gift of nature, and the “phenomena of environmental degradation and natural calamities,” the Pontiff recalled the need for mankind to enter into “a correct relation with the environment.” And noted: “A new sensitivity to these topics is being developed, which arouses the correct concern of the authorities and of public opinion, which is also expressed in the multiplication of meetings at the international level.” Benedict XVI called the earth “a precious gift of the Creator,” and said “we must hold ourselves as stewards of His creation.”

www.zenit.org

Petition to Abolish the “Law on Blasphemy”

Christians in Pakistan are working against the controversial law on blasphemy. The Justice and Peace Commission of the Pakistani Bishops’ Conference, has called for the signing of a petition to be presented to the government, calling for an abolition of the law. Specifically speaking, they refer to Articles 295 (b) and (c) and 298 (a), (b), and (c) of the Pakistani Penal Code, which have to do with the laws over blasphemy which are often used against religious minorities like Christians and Ahmadi. The Code condemns “any, who with words or writings, gestures, or visible manifestations, direct or indirect insinuations, insult the sacred name of the Prophet.” The punishment for violating the law is life in prison or the death penalty.

www.fides.org
World Touch

An Unprecedented Food Shortage

Asia faces an unprecedented food crisis and huge social unrest unless hundreds of billions of dollars are invested in better irrigation systems to grow crops for its burgeoning population, according to a UN report quoted by the British newspaper The Guardian. India, China, Pakistan and other large countries avoided famines in the 1970s and 1980s only because they built giant state-sponsored irrigation systems and introduced better seeds and fertilizers. But the extra 1.5 billion people expected to live on the continent by 2050 will double Asia’s demand for food, says the report from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Bank-funded International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

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