Pope Francis says Catholic shrines are a key place for evangelization

Gaza City, May 16, 2018 / 12:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- During his Wednesday audience, Pope Francis lamented the latest violence in the Israeli-Palestine conflict, expressing his distress that the region is “increasingly moving away from the path of peace, dialogue and negotiations.”

More than 100 Palestinians protesting at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel have been killed by Israeli soldiers in the past six weeks, according to Palestinian officials. Some 10,000 more have been injured.

I express my great sorrow over the dead and wounded in the Holy Land and the Middle East. Violence never leads to peace. Therefore, I call on all sides involved and the international community to renew efforts so that dialogue, justice and peace may prevail.

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) May 16, 2018

The Vatican has long supported a two-state solution established via peaceful negotiations. When the General Assembly of the United Nations voted to recognize the State of Palestine in 2012, the Holy See began referring to Palestine as such. Saint John Paul II first opened Vatican diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1994, and met with PLO leader Yasser Arafat on numerous occasions.

Most recently, during a United Nations debate on “the Palestinian question,” the Holy See representative, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, reiterated the Vatican’s support for a two-state solution, calling it “only viable way of fulfilling the aspirations for peaceful co-existence among Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

“Every Israeli and Palestinian has the right to live in peace and security,” continued Archbishop Auza.

“To have the best chance of success, peace talks must take place in an atmosphere free from violence. The ongoing violence simply underlines how overdue a just and lasting resolution is,” Auza said in the UN Security Council open debate April 26.

Palestinians in Gaza had been protesting on a weekly basis since March 30. These protests culminated May 14 when tens of thousands of Palestinians rallied near the fence dividing Gaza from Israel. Palestinians were reported to have hurled explosives and flaming kites at Israel, and rushed at the fence. They were met by Israeli army sniper fire and tear gas.

More than 60 people from Palestine were killed and thousands injured. It was the largest death toll in a single day in the ongoing conflict since 2014.

One official of Hamas, the Islamist organization which governs the Gaza Strip, has said that 50 of the 62 Palestinians killed May 14-15 were members of the group.

In an emergency security council meeting May 15, the U.N. human rights office acknowledged Israel’s rights to defend its borders, but said that Israel’s use of lethal force violated international norms. It suggested that Israel arrest any protester who reached the fence.

Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the  UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said May 15 that “An attempt to approach or crossing or damaging the fence do not amount to a threat to life or serious injury and are not sufficient grounds for the use of live ammunition.”

“This is also the case with regards to stones and Molotov cocktails being thrown from a distance at well-protected security forces located behind defensive positions,” he continued.

Bishop Declan Lang of Clifton and Christopher Chessun, the Anglican Bishop of Southwark, said in a May 15 joint statement that “The terrible loss of life in Gaza caused by the Israeli army’s use of live fire against civilians is to be condemned unequivocally.”

“Israel has a right to defend itself but also has the moral and legal responsibility not to use disproportionate force and not to prevent the injured from receiving medical treatment,” they continued.

They concluded by calling for a “peaceful two state solution with Jerusalem as the shared capital.”

Pope Francis reacted with sorrow for the dead and the wounded, and publically prayed to Mary, the Queen of Peace, asking “all the parties involved and the international community to renew their commitment so that dialogue, justice and peace prevail,” in his May 16 General Audience.

May 14 was a significant date in both Israel and Gaza. It marked the 70th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel. For Israelis, this day gained added significance with the U.S. embassy opening in its new location in Jerusalem, which Israel has long viewed as its capital despite the absence of international recognition.

Palestinians remember this anniversary as “Nakba Day” on May 15, a pained remembrance of the refugee crisis created by the 1948 founding of Israel, in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were uprooted from their homes, either fleeing or being forced to leave.

Following President Donald Trump’s December announcement that the U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move its embassy, Pope Francis issued an appeal that the international community respect the “status quo of the city, in accordance with the relevant Resolutions of the United Nations,” on December 6.

The U.N. had previously proposed that Jerusalem should eventually become the capital of the two states of Israel and Palestine.

U.S. bishops also wrote a letter to the then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in January urging that the U.S. embassy remain in Tel Aviv, expressing their concern that the move would erode the U.S. commitment to the a two-state solution, which “USCCB has long supported.”

“Only the emergence of a viable and independent Palestinian state living alongside a recognized and secure Israel will bring the peace for which majorities of both Israelis and Palestinians yearn. This two-state solution enhances Israeli security, preserves Israel as a Jewish majority democratic state, gives Palestinians the dignity of their own state, allows access to the Holy Sites of all three faiths, promotes economic development in the region, and undermines extremists who exploit the conflict,” wrote the U.S. bishops in a previous 2015 statement outlining their position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“The ongoing conflict assaults the dignity of both Palestinians and Israelis, with the suffering people in Gaza carrying a particularly heavy burden,” continued the bishops’ statement.

1.8 million Palestinians live in Gaza, where Monday’s violence occured. It is a densely populated Palestinian strip of land surrounded by Israel and currently under Israeli blockade. The impoverished area often experiences power cuts, and it is difficult for goods to get into or out of Gaza due to its restricted access.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster spoke with a Catholic parish priest in Gaza, Father Mario da Silva, May 16, who told him that life is hard and “everyone is desperate with shortages of water and other basic necessities.” The Gaza priest also said that he was encouraged to hear that people were praying for the people of Gaza.

Gaza is governed by Hamas, an Islamist group recognized as a terrorist organization and which has called for the destruction of Israel. The group has repeatedly used rockets and suicide bombings to attack Israel since its founding in 1987. Hamas in Gaza is split from the PLO, which governs the West Bank, further complicating any potential peace negotiations with Israel.

The Holy See and Catholic bishops continue to advocate for a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict urging recognition of the human dignity of the people caught on both sides of the conflict.

The previously mentioned U.S. bishops’ statement continued: “The path to peace in the Holy Land requires respect for the human rights and dignity of both Israelis and Palestinians. People of good will on both sides of the conflict want the same thing: a dignified life worthy of the human person.”

[…]

Bari, Italy, Feb 23, 2020 / 09:00 am (CNA).- Ask God for the grace to love your enemies, Pope Francis said Sunday in a homily in the Italian city of Bari.

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. This is the Christian innovation…. […]

CNA Staff, Jul 8, 2020 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- Twins who were conjoined at the head are likely to return home within months from the Vatican’s pediatric hospital where their bodies were successfully separated by doctors, and they have a high chance of living normal lives, the hospital’s chief neurosurgeon told CNA.

The Bambino Gesù Hospital announced the successful separation surgery July 7, saying it was the first operation of its kind in Italy and probably the world.

Separate due gemelle siamesi unite per la testa. È il primo intervento di questo tipo in Italia e, probabilmente, l’unico al mondo per una delle più rare e complesse forme di fusione a livello cranico e cerebrale. Oggi stanno bene e possono crescere come le bimbe della loro età pic.twitter.com/1S3YwHkuq8

— Bambino Gesù (@bambinogesu) July 7, 2020

The final stage of surgery, which took place on June 5, lasted 18 hours and involved more than 30 medical staff. The two-year-old sisters are expected to make a full recovery.

“We have been able to accomplish an extraordinary result despite such a complex malformation, being able to separate with an optimal clinical result. From a neurological standpoint, the two little girls are doing very well and have excellent prognosis for normal lives in the future,” Dr. Carlo Efisio Marras, director of neurosurgery of the Bambino Gesù hospital told CNA July 8.

“This accomplishment is the fruit of more than a yearlong work of investigation and preparation involving several specialties and professions within the hospital. There were many difficult phases since several surgical procedures were needed, each one with its own challenges,” Marras told CNA

“But the most difficult one involved the venous system, that is, the network of vases that brings blood from the heart to the brain to bring oxygen to it. If we would have not succeeded in deal with this system shared by both babies, the result would had been catastrophic.”

“But the two little twins are well: we believe they can be released in a few months. They will have to go through a rehabilitation phase to learn the motions they were not able to perform previously. I wholeheartedly wish them a happy future. They are now in the condition to return to a normal life.” 

“I have to thank my hospital, which is known for bringing together research, development and solidarity, for this extraordinary experience,” Marras added.

The hospital said the twins, Ervina and Prefina, were born on June 29, 2018 in a village about 60 miles outside Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. They were joined together with “one of the rarest and most complex forms of cranial and cerebral fusion,” known as total posterior craniopagus.

Mariella Enoc, president of the Bambino Gesù, met the twins in July 2018, during a visit to Bangui, where the sisters had been transferred after their birth. Enoc was helping to oversee the expansion of pediatric services in the country, which is one of the world’s poorest, in response to an appeal from Pope Francis. She decided to bring the girls to Rome for surgery.

“When you encounter lives that can be saved, it must be done. We cannot and must not look away,” she said at a press conference Tuesday.

The twins arrived in Italy with their mother, Ermine, on September 10, 2018. Initial tests confirmed the sisters were healthy, but had different blood pressures, indicating that one of the girls’ hearts had to work harder to maintain the healthy functioning of their organs, including their brains.

The hospital said the twins were joined via the back of the head, including the nape, sharing both skin and cranial bones. But the greatest challenge for doctors was that they were joined at a deeper level, sharing membranes inside the skull as well as the venous system, through which blood used by the brain is transported back to the heart.

The hospital emphasized that the sisters had distinct personalities, describing Prefina as “playful and lively,” and Ervina as “more serious and observant.”

A multidisciplinary team, including neurosurgeons, anesthesiologists, and plastic surgeons, prepared for more than a year for the operation to separate the twins. The hospital’s ethics committee contributed to a plan ensuring that the girls would have the same quality of life.

The separation took place in three stages. In the first, in May 2019, neurosurgeons started to separate and rebuild the membranes and venous systems.

The second, a month later, focused on the confluence of sinuses in the brain. The hospital said it was a critical phase of the treatment as “the operating space is a few millimeters.”

The two operations prepared the girls for the third and final phase of complete separation on June 5.

“It was an exciting moment, a fantastic, unrepeatable experience. It was a very ambitious goal and we did everything we could to achieve it, with passion, optimism and joy. By sharing each step, studying every single detail together,” Marras said.

Bambino Gesù, colloquially known as the “Pope’s hospital,” is among the most important pediatric hospitals in the world. Founded in 1869 by the Duchess Arabella Salviati, the hospital was donated to Pius XI in 1924, with the aim of giving it a more stable future. While the hospital is located in Rome, rather than Vatican City, it is situated in an extraterritorial area administered by the Holy See.

The hospital said Tuesday: “A month after the final separation, the twins are doing well. … On June 29 they celebrated their second birthdays, looking into each other’s eyes, moving their little hands to the rhythm of music, in the arms of their mother.”

“They have undergone very difficult operations; the wounds will take some time to heal; the risk of infection is still present. The neurorehabilitation program continues and for a few months they will have to wear a protective helmet.”

“But post-operative checks indicate that the brain is intact. The recreated system works, the blood flow has adapted to the new path.”

Speaking at the press conference, the girl’s mother, Ermine, said: “If we had stayed in Africa I don’t know what fate they would have had. Now that they are separate and well, I would like them to be baptized by Pope Francis who has always taken care of the children of Bangui. My little ones can now grow up, study and become doctors to save other children.”

[…]