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Category: World Touch
Pakistan

Talibans Terrorize Karachi Christians

There is a fear that Taliban violence will increase, as a result of weakness being shown on the part of the government, police, and civil institutions. The Christian families of the city of Karachi, who suffered attacks from armed members of the Taliban, are terrorized and living locked-up in their own homes. This is what Fr. Mario Rodriguez, Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) in Pakistan, said in expressing his concern and alarm at the spread of violence of groups of Islamic militants in the country, not only in the Province of the North-West Frontier Province, but also in Pakistan’s largest cities.

www.fides.org

Human Rights Should be Universally Sustained

“The basis of human rights has been the message of Christ that the Church has interpreted with various notions that have arisen in the Christian world, like the idea of the person, the idea of freedom as the essential component of man.” This is what Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, affirmed in presenting the conclusions from the 15th Plenary Assembly of the Academy, whose theme was: “Catholic Social Doctrine and Human Rights.” In the press conference held in the Holy See Press Office, Mary Ann Glendon, President of the Academy, and Ombretta Fumagalli Carulli, Professore of Canon Law at the University of Milan, were also present. Glendon highlighted the fact that, in today’s world, there are still many problems with the protection of human rights, and mentioned that next year, the workshops will be centered on the economic crisis and its social consequences.

www.fides.org
Sudan

The First Catholic University in the South

St. Mary’s University, the first Catholic university in South Sudan, was inaugurated in the capital city of Juba last April. The ceremony was attended by the Security and Religious Affairs Minister, Maria Kiden Kimbo, of the South Sudan Government. St. Mary’s is the second private university in the capital of South Sudan. Minister Kimbo praised the opening of the new university, which will offer an education to future social workers, a profession that is extremely important in a country with nearly 50,000 handicapped persons.

www.fides.org
Italy

Cardinal Donates Savings to Start Bank for Poor

Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe (see photo) is responding to the world economic crisis with more than exhortations; he is donating a year’s stipend and part of his personal savings to initiate a diocesan bank that will offer micro-credits to the poor. The Naples archbishop explained his plan in a pastoral letter titled “Where Can We Buy Bread?” The letter takes its title from the question posed to Jesus by the disciples before the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. He said the initiative aims to respond to the needs of “unemployed young people, and also of all those who have lost or will lose their jobs.”

www.zenit.org
Philippines

Four Million Child Slaves

In the Philippines, children are victims of prostitution rings, sex slaves for hire and are forced to work in high seas or open fields for up to 15 hours a day. They till the land, labor in the mines or scrub floors as domestic workers, on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week and work for at least 15 hours a day. Child labor is a curse that touches the lives of about four million children.

Santosh Digal
Tibet

Dalai Lama Foresees Successor

The Dalai Lama said, in a CNN interview broadcast last May, that his reincarnation would be found in the “free world” rather than in Chinese-occupied Tibet. The 73-year-old spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists also accused China’s communist government of “cultural genocide” in its assault on Tibet’s way of life but stressed that the future looks brighter for his people as China itself modernizes.

www.afp.com
Sri Lanka

Another “Tsunami” for Tamil Civilians

“The Tamil civilians affected by the violent conflict underway are experiencing a second tsunami,” this is the advisory being sent out by Fr. Ajith Perera, a priest from Trincolmalee who has been at Tamil refugee camps, helping people with material and spiritual support.

www.fides.org
Holysee

Crisis Hits Littlest Ones Hardest

The financial crisis has bigger effects than the developed world has to face, says Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, pointing to an expected rise in infant mortality in poor countries this year. The Holy See’s permanent observer to the U.N. offices in Geneva reflected on the causes and effects of the financial crisis while addressing the 10th special session of the Human Rights Council.

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Vatican

Recovering Paradise by Caring for Nature

Vatican officials are urging tourists to use ethics and intelligence and engage in pastimes that respect man and creation, as the planet faces the challenge of climate change. In a letter sent to participants in a congress on international tourism, Cardinal Renato Martino and Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Travelers, said that everyone is responsible for climate change.

www.zenit.org
Hawaii

“Lepers’ Apostle” to be Declared a Saint

The miraculous healing of a Hawaiian woman with cancer is leading to the canonization of a priest known for his ministry with lepers relegated to a sequestered community. Belgian Father Damien de Veuster (1840-1889) is known as “the apostle to the lepers,” for his ministry on the island of Molokai. Pope John Paul II beatified Father Damien in 1995.

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