Daily Archives: April 17, 2017

International

EGYPT ATTACKS WILL NOT PREVENT POPE’S ‘MISSION FOR PEACE’, VATICAN CONFIRMS

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The Vatican has said Pope Francis will continue with his visit to Egypt later this month despite raised security fears following the deadly terrorist attacks on churches at the weekend.

Archbishop Giovanni Becciu, a top diplomat at the Holy See’s Secretariat of State, said the Pope is sticking with his plan to make the trip to Cairo on 28-29 April, where Francis will address a conference on peace at the famous Al-Azhar university.

“What happened causes confusion and great suffering but it cannot prevent the Pope’s mission for peace,” the archbishop explained in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. “Without hiding from reality the Pope invites us to look to the future with hope. And as always he wants to led by example.” The Palm Sunday attacks on two Coptic churches killed at least 44 with fundamentalist group Daesh – Islamic State – claiming responsibility for the atrocities.

Archbishop Becciu stressed that dialogue with the Islamic world was a way of “isolating” extremists and that the Pope wanted distinguish between acts of terror and the Muslim faith, something which has gained him the respect of Arab leaders.

“The honesty of his positions have earned him the gratitude of Muslims,” he explained. “Many Islamic authorities have met the Pope to thank him, while many others have written to express admiration for his moral authority.” Coptic Pope survives unharmed as at least 44 die In Palm Sunday suicide attacks in Egypt. When he is in Egypt Francis’ meetings will take place in secure and tightly-controlled locations while the papal Mass will be cele- brated amidst high security at a closed stadium of Cairo attended by around 30,000 faithful.

Asian

Philippine activists condemn ‘calvary of the poor’

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Activists in the Philippines called attention to what they described as the “Calvary of the poor” during a protest march to mark the start of the observance of the Holy Week.

Protesters carried crosses symbolizing issues that burden the poor — lack of housing, killings, and human rights abuses — in a dramatization of the passion Jesus Christ on April 10, the Monday in Holy Week.

Hundreds from slum communities joined the procession to the presidential palace in Manila to condemn the government’s “anti-poor policies.” “Promises made by the government should not remain as promises,” said Gloria Arellano, spokeswoman of the urban poor group Kadamay.

President Rodrigo Duterte announced that he would provide free housing for the poor and distribute land to landless peasants as part of the government’s peace initiatives with communist rebels.
The Philippines concluded another round of peace negotiations in The Netherlands aimed at ending almost five decades of communist insurgency.

Arellano, however, said a lot of Duterte’s campaign promises, including wage hikes for workers and an end to labor contracting, remain unfulfilled.

During the march, protesters noted similarities between Jesus’ suffering and the Filipino people’s “continuing Calvary.”

“Poor Filipinos must continue to pressure the government to address the concerns of the homeless,” said Arellano.

“Instead of crucifying or shaming the poor, we call for solidarity with them in our prayers and our actions,” she added.

Aside from their call for free mass housing, urban poor groups said, “there is still so much to do” to address the plight of poor Filipinos.

The issues raised by the protesters during the “Calvary of the Poor” included the spate of killings of suspected drug users and peddlers, the proposal to revive capital punishment in the country, the lowering of the age of criminal liability for minors, the proliferation of fake news, and climate change, among others.

National

Kerala to ensure Lenten pilgrimage area remains ‘green’

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Local authorities with support from Church have taken steps to ensure that the premises of the Malayattoor church in Kerala remain a green zone. The Ernakulum district collector has banned the use of plastic disposables and a green zone is being set up.

The annual Lenten pilgrimage to Malayattoor, believed to be the spot where St Thomas prayed, attracts devotees from across the State and outside, especially on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

The ‘Clean Malayattoor Pil-grimage’ campaign started on April 1. The Ernakulam Angama-ly diocese and the church authorities have taken a bold step to strictly adhere to the green protocol in the pilgrimage area.

With intensive planning and better participation from stakeholders, the church has taken up measures to rectify the problems faced during the pilgrimage season last year.
Discussions were initiated as early as in February involving the diocese, the church authorities, the district administration, the District Suchitwa Mission (DSW), the Forest Department, Malayattoor panchayat and voluntary organisations.

‘Clean, Green Malayattoor programme’ is the motto of the campaign. Steps are being taken to implement a better waste reduction system, to create awareness about reducing plastic waste and to ensure respon- sible pilgrimage at Malayatoor Kurishumudi.

From The States

Washing women’s feet can give healing touch: Bishops told

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An ecumenical women’s forum says the inclusion of women for the feet washing ritual will help the Indian Church offer a healing touching amid clergy abuse cases.
A symbolic representation of “inclusion liturgy” celebrated in parishes and Mass centres across India “will have a healing effect especially in the light of the recent instances of the scandal of sexual abuse in the Church,” asserts the Indian Christian Women’s Movement (ICWM).

The movement comprising members from all Christian denominations has expressed dismay over the decision of India’s Oriental Catholic Churches to keep women out of on Holy Thursday.
Emulate Pope Francis and make the Church inclusive, the movement urged Catholic bishops of all three Catholic rites in India through a letter dated March 31.

The moment hailed Pope Francis’ initiative to include “all people of God” in the ceremony of the washing of the feet on Holy Thursday as one of the most encouraging signs of inclusiveness and equality in the Church.

The letter was drafted after the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara Churches, the Oriental Catholic rites in India, decided to stick to their tradition of washing the feet of only men or boys on Holy Thursday. The ritual that falls on April 13 this year commemorates Jesus washing the feet of His disciples during the Last Supper.

The women’s movement says including women for the ritual will help the Church present a different face. At least three Catholic priests were arrested in the past year for sexually abusing minors in Kerala, where the two Oriental rites are based.

International

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY IN BELGIUM SACKS LECTURER WHO CALLED ABORTION ‘THE MURDER OF AN INNOCENT PERSON’

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A visiting lecturer at Belgium’s Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) has been dismissed after arguing that abortion was murder in his philosophy class for first-year students and saying it could be “worse than rape.”

The comments by Stéphane Mercier created an uproar at the university, the francophone twin of the Flemish-language Catholic University of Leuven, after a feminist group complained he was presenting his personal opinions in the class. UCL first suspended Mercier’s two courses while his case was reviewed. He later received a letter from the university advising him of his dismissal without giving any reason, he told the Belgian Church information service CathoBel.

Amid the discussion, the Belgian bishops’ conference repeated the Church’s opposition to abortion but also expressed confidence in UCL’s internal review. A spokesman stressed the issue was between UCL and Mercier and that he was not an employee of the Church.

A UCL statement said his courses were suspended because “the serenity required for teaching was not assured.” It said its inquiry had led to disciplinary measures against Mercier but did not disclose the details.