News Briefs

Why did Facebook ‘kill’ charity’s petition drive against the forced marriage of Christian women and girls?

December 22, 2021 Catholic News Agency 2
Aid to the Church in Need UK says it’s been de-platformed by Facebook in response to the charity’s petition drive to stop the forced marriage and conversion of Christian women and girls. / Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 22, 2021 / 12:22 pm (CNA).

A Catholic charity says it’s been censored and de-platformed by Facebook without explanation in connection with the group’s recent petition drive calling for greater efforts to stop the abduction and forced conversion and marriage of Christian women and girls in Islamic countries.

London-based Aid to the Church in Need UK launched its campaign with a series of Facebook ads in early November. The organization’s effort was held in conjunction with the release of its new report, titled “Hear Our Cries,” which details the rampant and widely ignored abuse of women and girls who are Christians or members of other religious minority groups at the hands of Islamic extremists in Nigeria, Mozambique, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Pakistan.

Within a week, on Nov. 10, Facebook notified the charity that the social media giant was sharply curtailing the number of ads the group could post. The notice didn’t specify a reason.

“This is because too many ads were hidden or reported for ad accounts associated with this business. People hide and report ads because they find them to be offensive, misleading, sexually inappropriate, violent, about a sensitive topic or for other reasons,” the notice states.

This is the advertisement that Aid to the Church in Need UK posted on Facebook in support of the charity's petition drive to help women and girls who are abducted and forced to convert and marry Islamic men. Courtesy of Aid to the Church in Need UK
This is the advertisement that Aid to the Church in Need UK posted on Facebook in support of the charity’s petition drive to help women and girls who are abducted and forced to convert and marry Islamic men. Courtesy of Aid to the Church in Need UK

The charity says it also has lost access to the WhatsApp instant messaging platform and Instagram, both owned by Facebook.

Ever since the restrictions were imposed, Aid to the Church in Need UK says it has tried, without success, to get an explanation from Facebook. The closest the group has come to receiving a response was an email saying that the matter was being reviewed.

“We totally understand the urgency on this matter and how important this is for you, but such situations require a detailed investigation and solution, and considering the circumstances, we can not offer a time limit,” reads the email, sent by “Alex” from “Facebook Concierge Support.”

John Pontifex, the charity’s head of press and information, told CNA that Facebook’s action effectively “killed” the group’s petition campaign, which wound up garnering 3,210 signatures. That total was about one-quarter of what the charity anticipated, based on the results of a prior petition drive, he said. Pontifex delivered the petitions on Dec. 15 to Fiona Bruce, a Member of Parliament who is Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s special envoy for religious freedom.

In a statement, Neville Kyrke-Smith, national director of Aid to the Church in Need UK, blasted Facebook for its actions.

“We are horrified that our campaign which aims to help suffering women has been censored in such a draconian manner,” he said.

“By claiming to have banned our advert for violating its guidelines, but refusing to say which guidelines or how, Facebook have made themselves judge, jury and executioner.”

Kyrke-Smith went on to accuse Facebook of aiding and abetting the abuses the charity is trying to stop.

“By curbing this campaign, they are silencing these women twice over,” he said. “They are silenced when they are seized from their homes and forced to live with their abductors, and have now been silenced again by Facebook.”

A Facebook spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment prior to publication.

Aid to the Church in Need is a pontifical foundation directly under the Holy See that advocates for people of faith who are “persecuted, oppressed or in need,” according to the group’s mission statement.

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Archbishop asks president-elect Boric to recognize Chile’s ‘religious soul’

December 21, 2021 Catholic News Agency 0
Gabriel Boric, who won the 2021 Chilean presidential election, speaks after a candidates’ debate, Oct. 10, 2021. / Mediabanco Agencia via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Concepción, Chile, Dec 21, 2021 / 14:22 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib of Concepción has expressed his hope that Gabriel Boric Font, Chile’s president elect, “will recognize and value the religious soul of the Chilean people.”

Boric, of the Apruebo Dignidad alliance, won the Dec. 19 runoff presidential election.

Out of almost 15 million registered voters in the country and abroad, about 8.3 million people voted. Of these, Boric won 55.87% or about 4.6 million votes; while his opponent José Antonio Kast of the Christian Social Front coalition won 44.13% or about 3.6 million votes.

The 35-year-old president-elect will succeed Sebastián Piñera in March 2022 and will serve a four year term. In his campaign platform Boric proposed the incorporation of a feminist perspective, the implementation of policies such as “legal, free and safe abortion on demand”, and changes to the gender identity law.

To carry out his political agenda, Boric will have to negotiate with the Senate, whose political affiliations lean slightly to the right.

In the Chamber of Deputies, 44% of the 155 representatives are on the right of the political spectrum and the rest consists of the left and other parties.

Archbishop Chomali, who is vice president of the Chilean Bishops’ Conference’s Standing Committee, told the El Mercurio newspaper Dec. 20 that he hopes Boric “will recognize the immense work that the Church and so many other institutions do” and that the new president will value “the family as the place where people learn to grow”  and as such is an “irreplaceable source of happiness.”

The prelate said he hopes Boric will act decisively on behalf of the vulnerable such as the unborn child in the womb, the patient in a hospital bed, the immigrant on the border without documents, the homeless, or the disabled.

Archbishop Chomali also encouraged Boric to promote employment, “because it is a privileged path to overcome the poverty that afflicts so many Chileans.”

“I hope he sets an example of probity and works on everything necessary to end corruption, cronyism and quotas of all kinds as they are a significant source of injustice,” he added.

The Archbishop of Concepción said he hopes Boric “will never under any circumstances endorse violence in any form, wherever it comes from.”

“Lastly, I hope it goes well for him in his presidential term,” Archbishop Chomali concluded.

The Chilean Bishops’ Conference  reminded the president-elect that the “country has expressed a vote of confidence and entrusts you with a great mission, destined to direct the destiny of our country as its first authority and first servant.”

“We pray that God will give you his wisdom and his strength, which you will undoubtedly need,” the conference said.

“The mission is always greater than our possibilities and capabilities, but we trust that—with the collaboration of citizens, the work of various social and political actors, and the spiritual strength that comes from faith and from the deepest human convictions—you can face your task with generosity, commitment and prudence,”

The bishops also said that the Catholic Church in Chile “wants to continue contributing, from its particular mission, to building a more just and fraternal humanity, where especially the poor and those who suffer are respected in their dignity.”

“Count on our support and prayer, and on the contribution of our pastoral action, which we will always develop with due respect for the democratic order of our country and its legitimately elected authorities,” the message concluded.

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