Washington D.C., Jan 14, 2020 / 08:00 am (CNA).- Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has condemend "blatant human rights violations" in China after the province of Tibet passed policies similar to those used in Xinjiang to oppress Uighur Muslims.
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Vatican City, Jan 14, 2020 / 05:58 am (CNA).- Archbishop Georg Ganswein, the private secretary of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, said Tuesday the former pontiff was not informed he would be presented as co-author of a new book on priestly celibacy and tha… […]
Lafayette, La., Jan 14, 2020 / 04:00 am (CNA).- Three Cajun Catholics from the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana are on their way to becoming canonized saints after an historic ceremony on Saturday, January 11.
During the ceremony, Bishop J. Douglas Des… […]
Gaza City, Jan 14, 2020 / 12:47 am (CNA).- With fewer than 1,000 Christians in a population of 1.8 million, the Christian population in Palestine’s Gaza Strip today is less than half of what it was 10 years ago.
“They are — of all the Christian groups in the Holy Land — certainly by far the group that’s facing the most difficulty,” Robert Nicholson, president and founder of the Philos Project, told CNA.
Nicholson is currently leading an initiative to help Gazan Christians. He insists the world does not need to wait for a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to help the dwindling Palestinian Christian population.
“Christians are often forgotten in this conflict,” he said. “They are really caught between forces that are much bigger than them … They’re looking for stability, they’re looking for freedom.”
“Strengthening these communities need not necessarily be tied to politics,” Nicholson said.
Humanitarian circumstances for Gaza’s Christians have deteriorated since the radical Islamist Hamas takeover in June 2007, which prompted an Israeli blockade restricting the flow of commercial goods into Gaza. According to Caritas International, 80% of Gaza’s population lives below the poverty line.
The Christian minority in Gaza, which is mostly Greek Orthodox, also faces discrimination from the Muslim majority, according to Nicholson. “They are of course in Gaza being ruled by Hamas, a very extreme Muslim group that is rejected even by the Palestinian Authority. And, as Christians in this very difficult fundamentalist society, they face all kinds of social and political persecution,” he said.
This is one of the many factors that has led more and more Palestinian Christians to try to escape Gaza and to relocate to the West Bank, where many end up living with an irregular status and separated from their families.
“They are living in what is essentially an illegal immigrant status because of the way they moved from Gaza to the West Bank. They are washing dishes, they are cleaning homes. If they get arrested at a check-point, they get sent back to Gaza. And so these people, they’re living on the fringes of the society. Even the Christians of the West Bank are not doing that much for them,” Nicholson said.
Witnessing this struggle led Nicholson to start the Gaza Exodus initiative, which seeks to help reunite Christian families divided by the Green Line.
“We’re working with the Israeli and Palestinian governments to get their status normalized, to help them reunite with their families who are still in Gaza and to provide some basic level of financial support for them to make this transition,” Nicholson told CNA in October.
“There’s like social entrepreneurship that can happen that can lift the status of these Christians,” he said.
The Gaza Exodus initiative raised more than $20,000 in a three-month campaign at the end of 2019 to reunite four Christian families for Christmas.
Days before Christmas, Israeli authorities reversed a Dec. 12 announcement barring Gaza Christians from visiting Bethlehem and Jerusalem in the West Bank. Of the 800 travel permits requested, 316 were granted by Christmas Eve, Reuters reported.
Through the Philos Project, Nicholson has worked since 2014 to expose young people to the plurality of voices in Israel, Palestine, and throughout the Middle East.
The Philos Project brings Christian college students and young professionals on organized trips to the Holy Land to engage with the local religious and political realities. It is an ecumenical initiative with staff and fellows from Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, and Assyrian backgrounds.
“What I’m trying to do is bring people into an encounter with the birthplace of their faith because there’s power in that encounter,” Nicholson said. “The Middle East is and will remain important.”
Wichita, Kan., Jan 13, 2020 / 07:12 pm (CNA).- Pro-life legislators and advocacy groups in Kansas, joined by the state’s Catholic bishops, are working to send a constitutional amendment to voters to counter the Kansas Supreme Court’s declar… […]
As anyone who’s visited Europe in the past 30 years knows, Islam is becoming more visible throughout the Old Continent. That presence isn’t as large as some believe. In 2016, the estimated Muslim population of […]
Sydney, Australia, Jan 13, 2020 / 06:18 pm (CNA).- Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney urged Mass attendees Sunday to pray for an end to the Australia fires, which have destroyed thousands of homes, and to donate to those affected.
The bushfires in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia have killed at least 28, and destroyed more than 2,000 homes. More than 2,400 square miles are now on fire, and some 38,600 square miles have burned.
“We gather in the shadow of a drought that has now lasted for three years and a bushfire season already the most intense in our country’s history,” Archbishop Fisher said during his homily at Mass in St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney Jan. 12.
“[We] stand with all those suffering the destruction of drought and fire, and all those assisting them.”
He applauded the efforts of volunteers and offered prayers for those who have lost property and lives.
“Our mettle as a community is being tested by fire,” he said.
“Together let us pray for a great outpouring of water from the heavens to cleanse our land of destruction and revivify both the bush and our hearts,” he added.
The archbishop applauded the humanitarian efforts of Catholic organizations throughout the country and encouraged parishioners to donate during a special collection at Mass on Jan. 26, Australia Day.
Archbishop Fisher pointed to the feast of the Baptism of Christ, saying this “baptism by fire” will cause the community to become stronger than before.
“Through the inferno of these past weeks, the spirit of our people was not consumed. Rather, their hardiness and goodness were on display.”
“If baptismal waters call us to higher ideals, they also purify us for living those ideals. Fire, too can test our mettle, even refine what is there,” he said. “As our nation passes through this baptism of fire, it can emerge stronger and greater than before.”
“Key Church agencies in welfare, health and education, are working with local parishes, CatholicCare services and St Vincent de Paul conferences to ensure a co-ordinated and effective response,” he said.
“The Church in Australia will direct collections on the Australia Day weekend to the St Vincent de Paul Bushfire Appeal, so that we can maintain this momentum and long continue to demonstrate human and Christian solidarity.”
The St Vincent de Paul Bushfire Appeal will provide victims with essential items, like food and clothing. It will also help victims cover unexpected bills and offer emotional support.
National President of the St Vincent de Paul Society Claire Victory encouraged people to offer financial donations, noting that the organization does not have the “capacity to sort and store additional furniture, clothing or other items in the affected areas right now.”
“We are present, at the service of those communities, providing personal and practical support and referral to professional services,” she said in a Jan. 8 statement.
“Right now, cash is needed,” she added. “Cash is the most useful contribution at this point in time.”
Belfast, Northern Ireland, Jan 13, 2020 / 05:00 pm (CNA).- Same-sex marriage is now legal in Northern Ireland, after a deadline set by the UK Parliament Westminster in July 2019 passed without the province forming a government.
Prior to January … […]
Austin, Texas, Jan 13, 2020 / 04:18 pm (CNA).- Texas’ 16 Catholic bishops on Friday responded to Governor Greg Abbott’s announcement that the state will not participate in the federal refugee resettlement program, calling the decision “deeply discouraging and disheartening.”
“While the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops respects the governor, this decision is simply misguided. It denies people who are fleeing persecution, including religious persecution, from being able to bring their gifts and talents to our state and contribute to the general common good of all Texans,” the bishops said in a Jan. 10 joint statement.
“As Catholics, an essential aspect of our faith is to welcome the stranger and care for the alien. We use this occasion to commit ourselves even more ardently to work with all people of good will, including our federal, state and local governments, to help refugees integrate and become productive members of our communities.”
Several of the bishops, including Edward Burns of Dallas, noted that Catholic Charities agencies in their dioceses have partnered for years with the federal government to resettle refugees, all of whom have been screened and approved for resettlement by the Department of Homeland Security.
Abbott informed the U.S. State Department Jan. 10 that Texas will not participate in the refugee resettlement program this fiscal year, the Texas Tribune reported. Texas is the first state this year to opt out of the program; more than 40 other state governors have already chosen to opt in, the Texas Tribune reports.
Abbott acknowledged in his letter to the State Department that refugees could still settle in Texas after first arriving in another state that does participate in the resettlement program.
Several Texas bishops also released their own statements on the matter.
Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth Jan. 10 echoed the joint statement by noting that refugees are those who have fled life-threatening situations at home, and who have been vetted by the federal government. Many, he said, are Christians fleeing religious persecution.
Olson said current local refugee support services will continue to help refugees in Texas, and if Abbott does not reverse his decision those agencies will have to use local funds to replace lost federal refugee funds.
Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville wrote on Twitter Jan. 10 that “the Governor’s decision not to allow the Federal refugee resettlement program to operate in Texas affects refugees vetted by the current administration. They flee violence & persecution, and seek a chance to live, work & contribute in peace. The Governor should reconsider.”
Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of San Antonio also expressed on Twitter opposition to Abbott’s decision.
Abbott’s veto of the resettlement program was made possible by a September executive order by President Trump which requires written consent from states and local entities before they resettle refugees within their boundaries, the Tribune reports. A federal judge in Maryland is expected to rule this week on whether Trump exceeded his authority with the executive order, the New York Times reports.
The Tribune reports that Texas had been a national leader in resettlement for several years after reaching a high of about 8,212 people in 2009. The number remained around 7,500 from 2012-2016, and in 2016 the governor sued the Obama administration in an effort to prevent Syrian refugees from resettling in Texas.
Despite this, and despite Abbott’s subsequent withdrawal of the state from the resettlement program, local agencies continued to resettle refugees in Texas, which accepted about 1,700 refugees during FY 2018— more than any other state— and about 2,460 in FY2019, the Tribune reports.
Vatican City, Jan 13, 2020 / 02:56 pm (CNA).- The publisher of a new book on priestly celibacy, written by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, […]
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