Category: World Touch

A Wound in the Global Moral System

For a problem that is not exclusively financial, there needs to be a solution that is not exclusively financial, a Vatican representative recalled. Bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, underlined this on Vatican Radio when he discussed the ongoing worldwide economic crisis. “The crisis that the world is currently living is not just financial and, therefore, the solution cannot be purely financial,” he said. Instead, the economic crisis “verifies what the Church’s social doctrine has said for a long time: When an economic-financial system goes into crisis, it is never due to economic or financial motives, but because, in its origin, there has been a wound in the global moral system.”

A Symptom of an Unsustainable Lifestyle

European bishops say Christians should lead the way in using the climate change issue as an opportunity to analyze societal practices and return to the true values in life. The stance of Christians faced with global warming and other climate changes was one of the themes addressed by the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community during their plenary assembly.

Holysee

It’s Easier to Get a Gun Than Food or Education

The Holy See is decrying a world situation in which it is easier to get a weapon than to obtain food, shelter and an education. Archbishop Celestino Migliore, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, affirmed this at the U.N. Security Council meeting on “Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Strengthening Collective Security Through General Regulation and Reduction of Armaments.”

Cyprus

Peace Alone is Holy!

An appeal for world peace was passed from religious leaders to children to government officials in Nicosia, Cyprus. With the presentation of the appeal, the International Meeting of Prayer for Peace, traditionally sponsored by the Catholic lay Sant’Egidio Community, and this time co-sponsored by the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, came to an end. The 22nd meeting was on “The Civilization of Peace: Faiths and Cultures in Dialogue.”

United Nations

More Countries Against Death Penalty

With 104 votes in favor, 48 contrary and 31 abstentions, the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee (or Third Committee) of the UN General Assembly approved the renewal of the “universal moratorium on the death penalty,” first adopted in 2007.Then, the Committee had approved the moratorium with a mere 99 “yes” and 52 “no” and 33 abstentions; the Assembly backed the moratorium in a 104-54 vote (29 abstentions).

Vatican

St. Paul was a “Migrant by Vocation”

The example of St. Paul is one Benedict XVI hopes the Church will follow to build solidarity and promote peaceful coexistence among all races, cultures and creeds. The Pope said this in the message released for the 95th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, to be held January 18.

Two Planets to Maintain our Lifestyles

The world is heading for an ecological credit crunch as human demands on the world’s natural capital far outstrips the Earth’s ability to sustain it. That is the stark warning contained in the latest edition of WWF’s Living Planet Report, the leading statement of the planet’s health. On a global scale, humans are currently exploiting the planet’s natural resources at an unsustainable rate. We are living beyond our means and must reduce our impact in order to avoid financial, ecological and societal disaster.

Migration with a Human Face

Government officials and civil society members from 163 countries, gathered in the Philippines for a meeting on migration, agreed that it was time to look beyond economic benefits and give the phenomenon a ‘human face.’ As the four-day ‘Second Global Forum on Migration and Development’ drew to a close, the consensus was that there needed to be a ‘’rights-based approach’’ to migrant workers, taking into consideration the benefits they bring to both home and host countries.

Vatican

Make Malaria Treatment Available to the Poor

The Holy See says malaria is still a major threat to human security – someone dies of it every 30 seconds – but the solution is helping the poverty-stricken prevent and treat the disease. This was the observation made by Archbishop Celestino Migliore, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, at the 63rd U.N. General Assembly.

FAO

A Call for a Review of Agrofuel Policies

‘The World Food and Agriculture Situation of 2008’ studies the consequences of the rapid growth of the production of agrofuels based on crops. The boom in liquid agrofuels has been widely favored by policies adopted in the developed countries that saw this new form of energy as capable of reducing the negative effects of climate change and of contributing to energy security and agricultural development. The growing demand for crops destined for fuel production has significant implications for agricultural markets.

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