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Each year, more than two dozens of missionaries are murdered. With the exception of a few, little is reported of them beyond the facts of their abduction or martyrdom. The majority are killed because of their commitment to justice and peace; some, because of religious intolerance.
Southeast Asian foreign ministers have agreed to set up a regional human rights commission. They have also urged military-ruled Myanmar to make quick progress on its repeated promises to implement democracy and free political prisoners, above all Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who is still under house arrest.
In a message marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Pope Benedict pleaded for nuclear disarmament but backed the increased peaceful use of nuclear energy to promote development for the world’s poor. The pope noted that, among its objectives, the IAEA seeks “to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health, and prosperity throughout the world.”
Beijing has applauded the UN Security Council’s decision to send a new peace force of 26 thousand troops to Sudan to stop the Darfur massacre. Just after the decision, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi commented: “This is the result of concerted effort and should be fully recognized and encouraged.” The Security Council also voted on the use of force in protecting Darfur civilians. Sudan said it considered the decision to be “practical” following changes brought in shortly before the vote; among them the withdrawal of the power of peace forces to requisition arms.
Saying that the “time for simple promises has passed,” the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace has supported a call from new British PM Gordon Brown to mobilize governments, business and faith-based organizations in a bid to cut poverty. Mr. Brown called for an international United Nations summit in 2008 to pressure governments to meet their commitments for reducing poverty and promoting development.
For the Holy See, eradication of poverty is a priority for the benefit of rich and poor countries alike. Archbishop Silvano Tomasi said this recently at a session of the U.N. Economic and Social Council in Geneva. In his address, the Archbishop called for a re-examination of the reasons why developing countries are unable to rise above poverty, noting that the number of people living on less that $2 a day continues to rise.
The faithful can now partake in Sunday Mass and other rites on solemn occasions in the many shopping malls that dot the landscape of the Philippines, this according to Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, Archbishop of Manila.
The death seven years ago of an American missionary priest, Fr. John Kaiser, who had helped teenagers pursue rape allegations against a former Kenyan government minister, was murder and not suicide, an inquest has found.
Kidnapping has plagued Colombia since 1933. But, since the 1990s, it has become widespread, as common criminals, drug-traffickers, guerrilla groups and paramilitaries use kidnapping as a means to attain their economic or political goals.
In Iraq, priests are being abducted, often ransomed, and sometimes killed. Families are being thrown out of their homes without notice or forced to abjure their faith and embrace Islam. The biggest part of the Christian community has already fled the country.
