Lagos, Nigeria, Jan 11, 2018 / 07:00 pm (CNA).- Bishop Matthew Kukah has decried “cries of shrill Islamization across the land,” enabled by government corruption, according to a Jan. 8 report from the Catholic News Service of Nigeria.
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Uromi, Nigeria, Jan 11, 2018 / 03:15 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- During a two day police operation, six women religious who were captured in Nigeria’s Edo state two months ago were released unharmed on Saturday, generating much joy from the Christian community.
The women were freed during a Jan. 6 police operation, but their captors were able to escape.
They had been kidnapped Nov. 13, 2017 from the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus Convent in Iguoriakhi. Taken by unknown gunmen, three of the women were professed nuns (Sister Roseline Isiocha, Sister Aloysius Ajayi and Sister Frances Udi), and the other three were aspirants. Sister Ajayi was released first, followed several hours later by the others
“We are happy; to God be the glory,” said the convent’s mother superior, Mother Agatha Osarekho.
“They are fine and are receiving some medical checkup in a hospital,” she added, according to the Scottish Catholic Observer.
Sister Agatha received a ransom request of $55,000 for the women’s return, but she did not pay it.
Although the criminals were not captured, Sister Agatha applauded the efforts of authorities.
Fr. Kevin Oselumhense Anetor, a priest of the Diocese of Uromi, whence the women were kidnapped, posted on Facebook thanking “all the men and women of goodwill who worked and prayed tirelessly behind the scenes for the release of our sisters. We thank the mother superior of the EHJ for her patience and strong will, and her sisters for their solidarity during these days of trial.”
“We thank the Catholic Archdioceses of Benin and Lagos for their support and prayers, and indeed the Catholic and non-Catholic World, for their vigilance and prayers,” he added.
Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos had, earlier that week, urged government authorities to intensify their investigation into the abduction, saying, “We still do hope that the security agencies would do much more than is being done now to ensure that the sisters are released.”
Nigeria’s bishops had decried the nuns’ kidnapping in December, calling it a product of the “agents of darkness.”
Pope Francis also brought attention to the plight of the religious women, praying for them at his Dec. 17 Angelus address.
An Italian missionary priest, Fr. Maurizio Pallù, was kidnapped in Edo state for a week in October 2017. In Imo state, Fr. Cyriacus Onunkwo was kidnapped and killed in September of the same year.
Mosul, Iraq, Jan 10, 2018 / 11:34 am (ACI Prensa).- When Iraqi residents fled their homes during the Islamic State invasion, they left behind their houses, neighbors, and day-to-day lives.
For the children who fled, leaving their home behind also meant an interruption in their education – in some cases for months or years.
While some refugee camps offer classes for children, challenges abound and students often fall behind.
Now, a group of Dominican sisters in one Iraqi town is working to help educate displaced children as their families return to their homes and work to rebuild their lives.
With the support of Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need in Spain, the Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine of Sienna were able to restore their convent, which had been destroyed by the Islamic State in Iraq. Today, they offer classes to hundreds of children who had been displaced by the war.
“We try to help the children, giving them peace: in our convent we offer them a safe place,” Sister Ilham told ACN in late December. Despite the expulsion of ISIS, security in the area remains unstable.
In May 2017, ACN funded the restoration of Our Lady of the Rosary Convent with a grant of $54,000. Located in Teleskuf, north of the plain of Nineveh, the convent is just over 20 miles outside of Mosul.
The sisters worked 12-hour days to prepare the convent to welcome the children, Sister Ilham said.
They provide daycare for children between three and five years old. In the mornings, they teach about 150 children between the ages of six and 12. In the evenings, they teach students 12 years of age and older.
Sister Ilham, 57, was working for a church in Mosul when the rapid advance of the Islamic State forced her and her community to flee. However, after the fall of the terrorist group, she returned to the area and today is helping those displaced from Teleskuf.
“None of us wanted to leave where we come from, but as the attacks continued, we had to flee to save our lives,” she said.
“In 2016 some 6,000 people had to leave Telskuf. When I returned to this area, all the houses were abandoned and many of them destroyed,” she continued. “In Teleskuf all that is left of many of buildings are the ruins. The school and the children’s home are destroyed, the doors of the convent were forced open and the sisters’ home was sacked.”
In addition to teaching at the convent, the sisters visit the members of the Christian community in their homes, teach catechism to the children, and prepare them for their First Communion.
Once the local school is rebuilt, the children will no longer need to attend the convent classes. In the meantime, the sisters hope they can help the children from falling too far behind in their studies.
“Before the Islamic State invasion, there were five sisters in the convent, while now there are only two of us. Fortunately, we are will soon receive reinforcements,” Sister Ilham said.
In addition to helping fund the convent reconstruction, Aid to the Church in Need is currently helping rebuild 13,000 houses and more than 300 church properties destroyed by the Islamic State in Iraq.
This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Lusaka, Zambia, Jan 9, 2018 / 01:42 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A cholera outbreak in the southern African country of Zambia, centered on the capital Lusaka, has led to an indefinite cancellation of some school openings and church services.
“We have had an outbreak of cholera from October 6, 2017 and it has affected mainly Lusaka Province and we have recorded sporadic cases in various parts of the country,” read a statement from Zambia’s Minister of Health, Chitalu Chilufya, and the Minister of Education, Dennis Wanchinga, according to Africa News.
As of Jan. 9, an estimated 2,802 individuals have been infected by cholera throughout Zambia, including 66 deaths – the majority of which have occurred in Lusaka.
Due to the outbreak, a handful of ecclesial communities in Lusaka have cancelled services as a precaution against the spread of the disease. In addition, schools have indefinitely called off classes for students.
The Zambian bishops’ conference has limited the number of Masses in some places, and cancelled the sign of peace at Masses which are still being held.
Representatives of three Christian communities in Zambia – the Catholic Church, the Council of Churches in Zambia, and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia – issued a Jan. 8 statement on national dialogue which included a lamentation over the cholera crisis.
“Our hearts go to the many families who have lost their loved ones from the disease. We pray for God’s peace, comfort and encouragement during this time of national crisis. We pray for the various teams working on the ground to fight the cholera outbreak so that this may be overcome quickly and life may be restored to normal,” they said. “We support the efforts of other stakeholders in this battle against cholera and pledge ourselves to collaborate with government in addressing the epidemic.”
Kanyama, one of the poorest townships in Lusaka, has been particularly affected by the disease, according to Reuters. Because of this, government intervention in the area has enforced a curfew, and has also banned street vending and public gatherings while the threat of cholera remains.
Cholera is caused by bacterial infection. Within a few hours of infection, the disease causes vomiting and diarrhoea, leading to severe dehydration that can be deadly without rapid intervention. Access to clean water and sanitation is critical to control the spread of cholera, and those with mild symptoms can usually be treated with hydration and antibiotics, although some cases require intravenous fluids.
Recent investigations have shown that the cholera outbreak in Zambia has been caused mainly by food contamination, according to Reuters. Three restaurants have been shut down after they were found to contain the cholera bacterium.
Government efforts have been set in place to combat the spread of cholera in the country. A vaccine will be available for administration Jan. 10 in the areas most affected by the disease, according to Lusaka Times.
Zambia’s president also highlighted the work of the Zambia Defence Forces, which have been collaborating with other organizations in the fight against the disease.
“I have directed all three wings of the Defence Force to join the Ministry of Health and the city fathers, Lusaka City Council to escalate efforts to minimize the spread of cholera in our capital city and the rest of the country,” said President Edgar Lungu of Zambia last month.
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jan 4, 2018 / 02:37 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Catholic cardinal in the Democratic Republic of Congo has strongly condemned security forces’ attacks on protesters amid deadly political tensions in the count… […]
Lagos, Nigeria, Jan 3, 2018 / 05:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Nigerian archbishop has urged authorities to intensify their investigation of six nuns who remain missing after being kidnapped in November.
“It is disheartening that the security agenci… […]
Tehran, Iran, Jan 2, 2018 / 04:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Ongoing protests in Iran could be a sign of hope for repressed religious minorities, if protesters demand that conscience rights be respected, said an Iranian-born journalist who converted to Catholicism in 2016.
Although most of those protesting in the streets of Iran were born after the 1979 revolution that led to the current Islamist regime, “many of them are chanting nostalgic slogans about the pre-revolutionary era,” noted Sohrab Ahmari.
“At the time Iran was no democracy,” he said, but the pre-revolution regime “was far less repressive and people retained many personal and social liberties, if not political ones.”
Ahmari was born in Tehran. He has lived in the United States for two decades and worked for the Wall Street Journal for several years before becoming a senior writer for Commentary magazine.
Ahmari spoke to CNA on Jan. 2, as Iranians protesting economic and social grievances flooded the streets of the Middle Eastern country.
Since the current round of protests erupted on Dec. 28, at least 21 people have died and 450 been arrested, CNN reports.
The protests are the largest in the country since the 2009 Green Movement, when thousands rallied in opposition to a presidential election they claimed was fraudulent.
The Iranian government has responded to the current demonstrations by sending out riot police and restricting access to internet and social media.
The protests began over economic issues. A year after sanctions against Iran were lifted by the United States, United Nations, and European Union, citizens of the Middle Eastern nation have yet to see the economic recovery that many had expected. Unemployment among the youth is high, and food and gasoline prices have risen significantly.
However, as the protests have grown, so have the grievances, with signs and slogans opposing what many see as a corrupt regime that suppresses the civil rights of its people.
“I don’t think you can separate the economic from the political,” Reza Marashi, research director for the National Iranian American Council, told CNN.
Ahmari agreed that the nation’s unrest shows a deep-seated discontent.
“The Iranians who are pouring into the streets have had it with an ideological regime that represses them and can’t even delivery basic economic security,” he said.
And while life is difficult for every Iranian, the situation for Christians and other religious minorities is particularly perilous, Ahmari told CNA.
“They are systematically discriminated against, are barred from various public offices and military posts, are prohibited by law from proselytizing, and so on.”
The regime does grant Christians and Jews a certain level of “second-class protection” as “People of the Book,” Ahmari said, but even this “limited protection only applies to the likes of Armenians and Assyrians, who are considered indigenous Christians.”
Converts are not protected, he said, because Sharia law – which is the foundation of Iran’s penal code – views apostasy from Islam as a crime punishable by death.
While the regime generally does not formally charge Christian converts with apostasy, Ahmari said, “it routinely harasses them, monitors and raids their house churches, and arrests and imprisons their pastors on trumped-up ‘national-security’ charges.”
Nearly a week after the start of the protests, it remains to be seen what effect they will have, if any. But Ahmari is hopeful that any changes in the government will include a greater respect for religious minorities.
Life before the 1979 revolution that brought Sharia law to the country “wasn’t ideal,” he acknowledged.
“(B)ut minorities thrived, and there was a sense that Iranian-ness wasn’t just about Shiite Islam but also incorporated pre-Islamic elements. Jews, Christians, Baha’i and others belonged to this identity. They were tolerated and even celebrated,” he said.
“If the protesters can recover something of that inclusive nationalism, then Christians and other ethnic and sectarian minorities will be better off than they are now.”
Jerusalem, Dec 14, 2017 / 04:11 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- An arson attack on the church complex at the site of Christ’s multiplication of loaves and fish on the Sea of Galilee has resulted in prison time for the perpetrator.
Yinon Reuveni, 23, was se… […]
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dec 8, 2017 / 03:49 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Every day, thousands of people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are forced to flee their homes.
In recent months, violent clashes have escalated, creating a massive refugee crisis that has gone largely unnoticed in much of the Western world.
“Political and ethnic tensions have forced millions of Congolese to leave their homes in the past year alone. The vast majority of these people are internally displaced within the country, while a minority have become refugees upon fleeing to neighboring countries,” said Amakala Constantin Sodio, the Kinshasa-based Catholic Relief Services country representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Congo-Brazzaville.
Sodio told CNA Dec. 8 there has been a “rapid escalation” of conflicts in the regions of Kasaï, Tanganyika and South Kivu in 2016 and 2017. This has put 4.3 million people into a crisis situation, facing emergency levels of food insecurity.
More than 1.7 million people have fled their homes this year alone. The U.N. has classed the country refugee situation as Level 3, equal to Syria, Iraq and Yemen in its humanitarian need.
The situation is far from stabilizing. At least 14 U.N. peacekeepers and five Congolese soldiers were killed in an attack in North Kivu province Thursday night, believed to have been carried out by a rebel group.
“It’s a mega-crisis. The scale of people fleeing violence is off the charts, outpacing Syria, Yemen and Iraq,” said Ulrika Blom, the country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, according to the BBC.
“If we fail to step up now, mass hunger will spread and people will die. We are in a race against time,” Blom added.
New armed conflicts, an intensification of current conflicts, and the delay in elections has helped drive the crisis, according to a report from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.
Lambert Mende, the country’s minister of information, disputed the report and said that displaced people number less than 1 million. He said displaced people were in fact returning from nearby countries, the BBC reports.
About 5,500 Congolese people flee their homes each day, the report said. There are 4 million displaced people in the country and over 7 million who lack adequate food.
The average life expectancy in the country is under 60 years old, and more than 75 percent of the population lives on less than $2 per day.
Amid the current crisis, Catholic Relief Services aims to provide a rapid response to aid at-risk communities.
“With an initial focus on emergency response, CRS also carries out development programs focused on health, hygiene, nutrition, and agricultural interventions,” Sodio said. “CRS’ local partnerships and staff presence across the country ensures our ability to rapidly start up projects and reach people in remote areas.”
The Catholic relief agency has 182 staffers in the country and aided 1.3 million people with $27 million in resources programming in 2017, in collaboration with its partners.
The humanitarian emergency is complex and there are no simple solutions, Sodio said.
“Improvements to the quality of life of people displaced will happen slowly as countrywide efforts are made to strengthen local systems, so they may safely return home to rebuild dignified lives,” he said.
CRS has been in the country since 1961 and has maintained a continuous presence since 1993.
Sodio cited the words of Barbara Forbes, a DRC-based International Development Fellow at Catholic Relief Services, who noted that many Congolese refugees are expected to be among the 45,000 people resettled in the U.S. in 2018.
“Personally meeting refugees in the community is a great way for Americans to maintain perspective on this issue,” Forbes said.
“Americans can help these refugees thrive by offering them jobs and volunteering to drive them to medical appointments or explain their household bills,” she added. One refugee in the U.S. had told her of her dreams to go to college on a basketball scholarship and study law.
Such personal connections with refugees make clear the importance of advocacy for increased acceptance of refugee resettlement in the U.S., according to Forbes.
Jerusalem, Dec 7, 2017 / 11:34 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Christians leaders in Jerusalem have voiced fear over the repercussions of America’s recognition of the city as Israel’s capital, asking that international law be respected in the interest of maintaining peace.
According to Fr. David Neuhaus, a priest in the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and former Parochial Vicar for Hebrew-speaking Catholics in the city, the first reaction to the decision was fear.
“You touch Jerusalem, things explode,” he said, explaining that for people on the ground, there are three primary concerns over the move, the first of which is “how many people are going to die? … To what extent is there going to be violence and loss of life?”
Speaking to CNA over the phone from Jerusalem, he said on a second level, there is also concern over the fact that the U.S. has strayed from a position that has been a widely accepted in international law, and to which the Holy See has also “very, very strenuously and strictly” stuck.
“The Holy See has remained very strictly within that discourse, and the kind of upset that it causes now to think that one of the strongest countries in the world doesn’t seem willing to stay within a discourse that we have been using and that has been very useful in trying to find a solution to the problem of Jerusalem,” is concerning, Neuhaus said.
A third immediate concern, which the Church itself has taken a particular interest in, is over the character of Jerusalem itself, he said, explaining that to drag the city into a contentions political debate “is endangering the character of the city as a holy city.”
There is real concern not just for the preservation of the holy sites in Jerusalem – which holds special religious significance for Jews, Christians and Muslims – but also for the people who visit them, the priest said.
The people, he said, “always kind of vanish from this kind of politicized discourse, because we talk about protecting stones, and our fear is yes, you can wonderfully keep a museum, but there aren’t people there anymore.”
“If violence breaks out, pilgrimages will stop and pilgrims will be in danger because when countries take positions like this, which seem to be positions that exclude someone else, yes the people are in danger,” he said, adding that this concern is also just as valid for the people who live in the city.
Jerusalem is a place where certain groups of people “feel more and more alienated” and excluded, and who feel “that one narrative is being preferred over other narratives, one religious tradition is triumphing over others,” he said, so in this sense, the Trump decision could alter the character of the city itself.
While right-wing Israelis have been celebrating the decision, likening it to the 1917 Balfour declaration announcing British support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people,” for Palistinians, both Christian and Muslim, “there is despair.”
In general, Neuhaus said the feeling is that the move betrays what had previously been decided by the international community, who recognized the “special status” of Jerusalem and tried to protect it from becoming the center of conflict.
However, rather than doing this, the Trump administration’s announcement “is very clearly putting Jerusalem right in the middle,” the priest said, adding that there is also confusion over what this will mean in the long run.
Trump never said what Jerusalem is, so in terms of a two-state solution, which has been supported by the U.N. and the wider international community, “what are these two states?”
Neuhaus said the “bravado” with which Trump made the announcement was “kind of spitting in the face of the rest of the world, which is saying this might not be the most prudent thing to do.”
“This kind of discourse does not prevent division it provokes division,” he said, and while they are hoping for the best, the future is unclear.
Many Israelis, he said, are asking themselves the question: “is Israel going to have to pay a price for this American gift? … Is this part of something bigger that we can’t see right now?”
“These things will become clear in the months to come,” he said, but noted that “something has changed, and that change is not going to be for the good.”
Neuhaus’ concerns echoed those of the patriarchs and heads of Churches and ecclesial communities in Jerusalem.
On Dec. 6, 13 of these leaders signed an open letter to Trump saying they have followed the news of his decision “with concern.”
“Jerusalem, the city of God, is a city of peace for us and for the world,” however, unfortunately, “our holy land with Jerusalem the Holy city, is today a land of conflict.”
Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, they said, will only lead to “increased hatred, conflict, violence and suffering in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, moving us father from the goal of unity and deeper toward destructive division.”
Peace in the area “cannot be reached without Jerusalem being for all,” the signatories said, and urged the United States “to continue recognizing the present international status of Jerusalem.”
“Any sudden changes would cause irreparable harm,” they said, and voiced their confidence that with adequate support, both Israelis and Palestinians “can work towards negotiating a sustainable and just peace” that is beneficial for all sides.
“The Holy City can be shared and fully enjoyed once a political process helps liberate the hearts of all people that live within it from the conditions of conflict and destructiveness that they are experiencing,” they said, and asked that as Christmas approaches, Trump would join them in their quest to build “a just, inclusive peace for all the peoples of this unique and Holy City.”
The 13 signatories of the letter included six Catholic officials, as well as representatives of Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, and Lutheranism.
Israel has traditionally recognized Jerusalem as its capital. However, Palestinians claim East Jerusalem for the capital of the Palestinian state. In recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the U.S. is the first country to do so since the state was established in 1948. East Jerusalem was annexed by Israel after is victory in the Six Day War of 1967.
Debate on this particular issue has in many ways been the crux of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, which is backed by Arab leaders and the wider Islamic world.
According to the 1993 Israel-Palestinian peace accords, the final status of Jerusalem is to be discussed in the late stages of peace talks. Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem has never been recognized by the international community, and all countries with diplomatic relations have their embassies in Tel Aviv. However, under Trump’s new plan, the U.S. embassy is to be relocated from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, then, is likely to increase tension, particularly in regards to the 200,000-some settlements Israel has built in East Jerusalem, which are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this stance.
After news of the decision broke, Pope Francis during his general audience also voiced “deep concern” over the move, and issued a “heartfelt appeal” to the international community to ensure that “everyone is committed to respecting the status quo of the city, in accordance with the relevant Resolutions of the United Nations.”
More than 30 Palestinians have been injured in clashes across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip amid protests against Trump’s decision.
The position of the U.N. on the Jerusalem issue is that East Jerusalem is occupied Palestinian territory, and that the city should eventually become the capital of the two states of Israel and Palestine.
The Vatican has long supported a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and on a diplomatic level recognizes and refers to both “the State of Israel” and “the State of Palestine.”
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