Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is warning of a potential humanitarian crisis in Ghana after a “devastating” flood in the southeastern part of the country.
The flooding occurred last month when the Akosombo and Kpong dams were subject to a controlled spillage that “caused a devastating flood” in Lake Volta, CRS said in a Tuesday press release.
Daniel Mumuni, the relief organization’s country representative in Ghana, said in the release that “thousands of people have already lost their homes, crops, and livestock because of the flooding.”
“There could be disease outbreaks and devastating long-term impacts on hunger as 200,000 hectares remain covered by water,” Mumuni said.
The press release stated that the “current level of assistance from the government and other partners has been insufficient to meet the overwhelming needs of the affected population.” Those needs include “food, shelter, clothing, and safe drinking water.”
Devastating flooding occurred in October 2023 when the Akosombo and Kpong dams were subject to a controlled spillage that caused a devastating flood in Lake Volta in the southeastern part of Ghana. Credit: IAWGE (Inter-Agency Working Group on Emergency)
Some displaced residents “have found shelter in ‘safe havens,’ established by the government in schools and churches in the districts of Central Tongu and North Tongu,” CRS said. Mumuni said these havens were offering victims of the floods “some relief.”
“But the longer families are removed from their homes, the longer their children are missing school, and the larger the impact gets on their lives,” he pointed out.
The flooding has disrupted “water and power supplies, health services, and education,” CRS said. Further risks were present from “waterborne diseases such as cholera, dysentery, and typhoid.”
“Access to the more than 80 flooded communities has been difficult, as many roads have been submerged or destroyed by the floods,” CRS said. “Boats are currently the only means of transportation for rescue and emergency aid.”
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) on Nov. 14, 2023, issued warnings of a potential humanitarian crisis in Ghana after a devastating flood in the southeastern part of the country. Credit: IAWGE (Inter-Agency Working Group on Emergency)
Mumuni said response teams “have just concluded a rapid assessment of the situation together with the local diocese and other stakeholders” and that though the spillage has stopped and the floodwaters were gradually receding, “it is still difficult to reach people.”
“The situation is critical,” Mumuni said. “We need more support to reach the most vulnerable people and prevent any outbreak of disease.”
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Bacolod, Philippines, Sep 2, 2017 / 04:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The grave of Bishop Jean Marie Benoît Bala of Bafia, whom the Cameroonian bishops’ conference claims was murdered, was found desecrated with traces of blood on Monday, prompting the temporary closing of the cathedral where his body rests.
Bishop Bala disappeared in late May, and his body was found a few days later in the Sanga River. The Cameroonian bishops’ conference has asserted he was murdered, based on autopsy results, though civil authorities do not share the bishops’ conclusion.
Local sources have now reported that Bishop Bala’s grave in Bafia’s San Sebastian Cathedral was desecrated sometime between the night of Aug. 27 and the morning of Aug. 28.
“There was a clear act of desecration in the cathedral of Bafia in the night…Traces of blood were found in the cathedral” on the grave of Bishop Bala, said Bishop Sosthène Léopold Bayemi Matjei of Obala, according to Agenzia Fides, a news service of the Pontifical Mission Societies.
“The cathedral is closed to public worship until a penitential rite will be celebrated as prescribed by the Code and the liturgical rite” because of the nature of the desecration, Bishop Bayemi added.
Bishop Bala, who was 58, disappeared the evening of May 30 after being seen leaving his residence alone. His body was found in the Sanga River June 2, about 10 miles from his car, in which was found a note that reportedly read: “Do not look for me! I am in the water.”
The note gave rise to the suspicion that Bishop Bala had committed suicide, but the Cameroonian bishops later determined that he had been murdered, based an autopsy report that showed he had not died by drowning, and that there were signs of torture on his body.
While local government authorities ordered investigations into the death, they have maintained that Bishop Bala committed suicide. The results of two autopsies conducted by Cameroon’s bishops were never made public. An investigation commissioned by the intergovernmental organization Interpol concluded Bishop Bala had died by drowning.
The bishops of Cameroon have called on local authorities to further investigate the case and to make clear the true cause of Bishop Bala’s death. They have also noted there have been a number of clerics and consecrated persons whose murders in the country have never been solved, including: Fr. Joseph Mbassi, killed in 1988; Fr. Antony Fontegh, 1990; Archbishop Yves-Joseph-Marie Plumey, 1991; a group of religious sisters in Djoum, 1992; and Fr. Engelbert Mveng, 1995.
In a June statement, the bishops asked the government “to shed complete light on the circumstances and the motives” for Bishop Bala’s murder and that those responsible be identified and handed over to the authorities.
Mass for U.S. military personnel at a forward operating base in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Dec. 23, 2001. / U.S. Navy photo by chief photographer’s mate Johnny Bivera (Public Domain).
Rome Newsroom, Aug 3, 2021 / 04:30 am (CNA).
As the U.S. is winding down its operations in Afghanistan after 20 years, there is much concern about the situation of the Church in the country. There is only one Catholic church in Afghanistan, located in the Italian embassy in Kabul, and consequently shut down as long as the embassy remained closed during the pandemic.
Afghanistan’s 2004 constitution defined the country as an Islamic republic. It is forbidden to preach the Gospel in public or to convert to Christianity.
This is the reason why missionaries and Catholics in Afghanistan rarely speak on the record: they apply some necessary prudence in a challenging environment. CNA spoke with them and agreed to their requests for anonymity.
In 2002, Pope John Paul II established a mission sui iuris, or independent mission, in Afghanistan serving some 210 Catholics with three priests.
But there are other missionaries in Afghanistan. The Jesuits entered the country in 2004 and set education as one of their primary goals. The Missionaries of Charity came that same year to provide humanitarian assistance in the war-torn country.
The U.S. decision to leave Afghanistan opens the way for the return of the Taliban, posing new challenges for the country’s Christians.
According to local sources, it isn’t easy to describe the current situation in Afghanistan. But sources say that “beyond the waged war, there is seemingly an information war. Both of the conflicting parties claim their successes, and in both cases, it is hard to assess them.”
The sources note that Western media tend to say that the Taliban are regaining territory and influence. At the same time, Afghan government officials claim that all the districts that fell into the Taliban’s hands were rescued.
Yet the Catholic community will not leave unless it is “obliged to.” Local Catholics underscore that their mission in the territory began long before U.S. troops arrived in Afghanistan.
For example, the Barnabite Fathers went to Afghanistan in 1934, and this is why it was natural to entrust the mission sui iuris to them. They will certainly stay in the country as long as they are permitted to, looking out any for possible openings
One of these openings might be the Taliban’s reported intention to ask for and accept the help of everyone to rebuild Afghanistan, NGOs included. This would not exclude Catholic NGOs, which would be a sign of hope.
But the most problematic scenario is that Afghanistan will get trapped in civil war. The scenario is furtherly complicated by as yet unverified rumors that foreign jihadists are moving to the country.
Local Catholics have no other hope than that the neighboring countries — Russia, China, Pakistan, India, and Iran — will help Afghanistan in its transition, as “it is their interest that Afghanistan remains peaceful.”
Anna Lulis from Moneta, Virginia, (left) who works for the pro-life group Students for Life of America, stands beside an abortion rights demonstrator outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2022, after the court’s decision in the Dobbs abortion case was announced. / Katie Yoder/CNA
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 5, 2022 / 13:31 pm (CNA).
U.S. Catholic voters are split on the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, but a majority agrees that abortion should be restricted and that there should be at least some protections for the unborn child in the womb, according to a new EWTN News/RealClear Opinion Research poll.
The court’s June 24 ruling in the Mississippi abortion case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization upended 49 years of nationwide legalized abortion and freed states to regulate abortion as they see fit.
When asked whether they agreed or disagreed with Roe being overturned, 46.2% agreed, 47.8% disagreed, and 6% said they weren’t sure.
Catholic voters were similarly split on whether they are more or less likely to support a candidate who agrees with Roe’s dismantling: 42% said they were more likely, 41.9% said they were less likely, and 16.1% were unsure.
At the same time, the poll results point to apparent inconsistencies in Catholic voters’ positions on abortion.
While nearly half of Catholic voters in the poll said they disagreed with Roe being overturned, a large majority (86.5%) said they support some kind of limit on abortion, even though Roe and related abortion cases allowed only narrow regulation at the state level. The breakdown is as follows:
26.8% said abortion should be allowed only in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother;
19.8% said abortion should be allowed until 15 weeks when the baby can feel pain;
13.1% said that abortion should be allowed only during the first six months of pregnancy;
9.9% said that abortion should be allowed only until a heartbeat can be detected, and
9.1% said that abortion should be allowed only to save the life of the mother.
Of special note for Catholic pro-life leaders, only a small minority of Catholic voters — 7.8% — were aligned with the clear and consistent teaching of the Catholic Church that abortion should never be allowed.
On the other end of the spectrum of abortion views, 13.4% of Catholic voters said that abortion should be available to a woman at any time during her pregnancy.
The poll, conducted by the Trafalgar Group from Sept. 12–19, surveyed 1,581 Catholic voters and has a margin of error of 2.5%. The questionnaire was administered using a mix of six different methods, including phone calls, text messages, and email.
The poll’s results echo surveys of the general U.S. population on abortion. A Pew Research Center survey from March found that 19% of U.S. adults say abortion should be legal in all cases, while 8% said it should be illegal in all cases. More recent Gallup data from May found that 35% of U.S. adults say abortion should be legal under any circumstances while 13% said it should be illegal in all circumstances.
The Pew Research Center data also looked at Catholic adults. Thirteen percent said abortion should be legal in all cases, while 10% said it should be illegal in all cases.
A previous EWTN News/RealClear Opinion Research poll released in July found that 9% of Catholic likely voters said abortion should never be permitted and 18% said that abortion should be available at any time. The poll similarly showed that a majority of Catholic voters (82%) support some kind of restriction on abortion.
Confused about what Roe said?
The poll’s results came as little surprise to Catholic pro-life public policy experts such as Elizabeth R. Kirk.
“This study confirms a phenomenon we have known for some time, i.e., that there is an enormous disconnect between the scope of abortion practices permitted by the Roe regime and what abortion practices Americans actually support,” Kirk, director of the Center for Law and the Human Person at The Catholic University of America, told CNA.
Kirk, who also serves as a faculty fellow for the Institute for Human Ecology and research associate and lecturer at the Columbus School of Law, noted the finding that nearly 42% of Catholic voters said they are less likely to support a candidate who agrees with Roe being overturned.
“At first glance that suggests that many Catholic voters wanted to keep Roe in place,” she said. “Yet, the study also reveals that 86.5% of Catholic voters want some type of restriction on abortion access.”
Why the inconsistency? “Most people do not realize that Roe allowed states to permit unlimited abortion access throughout the entire pregnancy and made it difficult, or even impossible, to enact commonsense restrictions supported by the majority of Americans,” Kirk observed.
“Many people who ‘support Roe’ actually disagree, unknowingly, with what it permitted,” she added. “All Dobbs has done is return abortion policy to the legislative process so that the people may enact laws which reflect the public consensus.”
Mass-goers more strongly pro-life
The new poll, the second of three surveys of Catholic voters tied to the midterm elections on Nov. 8, shows that the opinions of Catholic voters on abortion and other issues vary depending on how often respondents attend Mass.
Only a small portion of those who attend Mass at least once a week said that abortion should be allowed at any time: 0% of those who attend Mass daily, 1% who attend more than once a week, and 8% of those who attend weekly support abortion without restrictions. In contrast, 57.5% of Catholic voters who attend Mass daily, 21.5% of those who attend more than once a week, and 15.6% of those who attend weekly say abortion should never be permitted.
In addition to respondents’ apparent confusion about what Roe stipulated, the poll suggests that many Catholic voters don’t fully understand what their Church teaches about abortion.
Less than one-third of Catholic voters who said they accept all Church teachings (31.1%) said that abortion should never be permitted, and 5% who profess to fully accept the Church’s teachings said abortion should be permitted at any time.
Overall, 32.8% of respondents reported attending Mass at least once a week, with another 30.7% attending once a year or less. Only 15% agreed that they accept all of the Church’s teachings and live their lives accordingly, with another 34.5% saying they generally accept most of the Church’s teachings and try to live accordingly.
Pew Research Center also looked at how Mass attendance factors into Catholics’ views on abortion. Among those who attend Mass at least once a week: 4% said abortion should be legal in all cases, and 24% said it should be illegal in all cases, Pew found.
Strong support for pregnancy centers
The poll asked Catholic voters about a variety of other topics including abortion limits, Holy Communion for pro-abortion politicians, conscience protections for health care workers, and pro-life pregnancy centers.
EWTN
Among the findings:
Catholic voters are prioritizing other issues above abortion. Only 10.1% of Catholic voters identified abortion as the most important issue facing the nation, falling behind inflation (34.2%) and the economy/jobs (19.7%) and tying with immigration. At the same time, a higher percentage of Catholic voters chose abortion than crime (8.7%), climate change (8.1% ), health care (6.8%), K–12 education (1.7%), or religious freedom (0.8%).
About half of Catholic voters (49.3%) disagreed that Catholic political leaders who support abortion publicly and promote policies that increase abortion access should refrain from taking Communion, while 36.7% said they should refrain.
A majority (67.4%) of Catholic voters said they support public funding for pro-life pregnancy centers that offer pregnant women life-affirming alternatives to abortion, while 18.3% said they did not favor using tax dollars for this purpose.
A comparable majority (61.8%) said that political and church leaders should be speaking out against the recent attacks and acts of vandalism on pregnancy resource centers.
When asked about conscience protections for health care workers that would allow them to opt out of providing “services” such as abortion, a majority of Catholic voters (60.7%) said that health care workers should not be obligated to engage in procedures that they object to based on moral or religious grounds. Conversely, 25.3% said that health care workers should be obligated to engage in procedures that they object to based on moral or religious grounds.
Work to be done
What is the takeaway from the latest poll, where abortion is concerned?
“This polling shows that Catholics, like the overwhelming majority of Americans, support commonsense protections for women and the unborn,” Ashley McGuire, a senior fellow with The Catholic Association, told CNA.
“It also affirms other recent polling that found Americans by strong numbers support the work of pregnancy resource centers in providing women facing crisis pregnancies with a real choice and the chance to thrive as mothers despite difficult circumstances,” she noted.
EWTN
At the same time, McGuire added, “This new polling is also a reminder that more work needs to be done in catechizing Catholics on foundational Church teaching in support of vulnerable life in all stages — an effort that is continually undermined by Catholic politicians in the highest echelons of power who use their platforms to advocate for extreme abortion policies in direct violation of Church teaching.”
Nearly all of those surveyed (99.2%) said they plan to vote in the midterm elections on Nov. 8.
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