Food Security Under Threat Archives

Philippines

Bishops Say ‘No’ to Trafficking of Organs

The Catholic bishops of the Philippines have decried the widespread “immoral and grossly exploitative” practice of soliciting donations of vital human organs which offends the dignity of the person for economic profit. The Bishops’ Conference intervened to call attention to the “spreading organ trafficking, particularly the commercialization of kidneys, which is silently but steadily thriving in rural and urban poor communities.” The phenomenon is in the hands of organized crime which does not hesitate to abduct and kill street children, homeless people, ordinary people for the trafficking of vital organs.

The “Seeds of Truth” in Other Faiths

In Asia, a continent where great cultural and religious traditions had their origin, dialogue becomes particularly significant for Christians for they can see the “seeds of truth” the Holy Spirit placed in other faiths and can make them blossom towards Christianity. The Asian theological perspective of the Note of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on some aspects of evangelization was examined by Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, who took part in the presentation of the document.

Kenya

Benedict XVI Urges End to Conflict

Benedict XVI asked political leaders in Kenya to engage in dialogue and urged the strife-torn East African nation to build peace based on justice and brotherhood. Kenya erupted in violence after the disputed December 27 presidential election. More than 600 people have been killed and thousands more displaced in the violence that has brought about fighting based on ethnic lines.

Sudan

Franciscans Open a Community in Khartoum

Four Franciscans, three priests and a brother arrived in Sudan in July 2007. The archbishop of Khartoum, Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir, introduced them officially to the diocesan community, during the Eucharistic celebration in honor of St. Daniel Comboni, on October 10. The four newly-arrived Franciscans (2 Sudanese from the South, 1 Croatian and 1 Filipino) have offered themselves for the job to answer the call of their Superior-General. The superior of the group is Filipino Father Melito Penili. After a few years of academic and administrative work in the Philippines, he spent four years in Libya among the OFWs. Then he frequented a two-year Arabic course at Dar Comboni in Cairo, a language school for missionaries.

Fr. Salvatore Pacifico, MCCJ, in Khartoum

Catholic Nuns Plan Theology Training

Catholic nuns in India are planning a theology research institute to empower women religious and redress the gender disparity in religious studies. The four-day annual plenary of the women’s section of the Conference of Religious proposed the initiative before it ended on January 1. About 350 major superiors representing more than 90,000 women religious gathered in Mangalore, 2,290 kilometers southwest of New Delhi, for the assembly.

China

Inflation in the Year of the Olympics

In his New Year’s Day address, President Hu Jintao said that China was facing “unprecedented opportunities as well as challenges” in 2008. Rhetoric aside, analysts agree that 2008 will be a landmark year for the mainland.

Asia News

Pakistan

Bhutto’s Murder Rekindles Ethnic Suspicions

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto, leader of the powerful Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and twice prime minister, has pushed to the brink a country already known for regionalism and ethnic suspicion. Bhutto was widely acknowledged as the only leader who enjoyed popularity in the four ethnically distinct provinces of the country, Punjab, Baluchistan and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) besides her own Sindh.

Irfan Ahmed

Frontiers

The International Criminal Court

It is good news that The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has put several high level political and military suspects on trial for the abuse and exploitation and torture of children. This is a very new and welcome development for victims of violence, abduction, exploitation, abuse and trafficking. “Child offenders, beware; your days are numbered” is the slogan of the children’s rights defenders. Investigations, still secret, are targeting Filipino officials and eventually international arrest warrants could be issued according to human rights campaigners.

Shay Cullen | PREDA Foundation

Filipino Focus

A Five-Century Devotion

According to tradition, the image of the Santo Niño was brought to Cebu by the great Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, who was killed there. One Spanish soldier found the statue in a house spared by a fire some years later. For almost five centuries, it remained a Cebuano devotion, and spread all over the Philippines.

Leonardo N. Mercado, SVD | Professor of Philosophy and Theology

WM Special

A Global Warning

Not long ago, the rich world was used to cheap food and big surplus. Not anymore. For the first time in several decades, food prices − from rice to corn, from milk to meat − are worrying many countries. Some governments, afraid of social unrest, are already controlling the market. It is the case of Russia and China. The rise of prices has already caused protests in Italy and riots in Mexico, and is a growing threat to the poor of the Earth.

Manuel Giraldes | Journalist

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Series: Food Security Under Threat