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Buddhist Times News – Office of Tibet DC to host virtual celebration of 60th anniversary of Tibetan Democracy Day in North America
Office of Tibet DC to host virtual celebration of 60th anniversary of Tibetan Democracy Day in North America
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<span class="date"><i class="icon-calendar"/> Aug 27, 2020</span>
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By Bureau Reporter
Washington DC: Tibetan Democracy Day is celebrated every year on 2nd September. In 2011, His Holiness the Dalai Lama devolved all his political authority to the democratically elected President (Sikyong) of the Central Tibetan Administration—thus fulfilling his vision of fully democratizing Tibetan polity.
This year marks the 60th year of the founding of Tibetan Democracy Day. To note, the CTA General Election to the office of Sikyong and Tibetan Parliament-in-exile will take place in a few months.
The Office of Tibet-DC is hosting a virtual celebration of Tibetan Democracy Day on September 2nd at 10am EDT/7:30PM IST.
Distinguished speakers from US and Canada will address the importance of democracy and its challenges, and the event will be followed by a Q&A with CTA’s Chief Election Commissioner and Presidents of North America Tibetan Associations. The event will be presented through TibetTV.
-Filed by Office of Tibet, Washington DC
source – cta
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Jerry Falwell Jr. resigns as Liberty University president after sex scandal
Jerry Falwell Jr. has resigned as Liberty University president after a sex scandal involving his wife and a swimming pool attendant that rocked the white evangelical arena that strongly supports President Donald Trump.
“The Liberty University Board of Trustees acted today to accept the resignation of Jerry Falwell, Jr. as its President and Chancellor and also accepted his resignation from its Board of Directors. All were effective immediately,” the university said Aug. 25.
CNN reported that the embattled evangelical leader said he has resigned as president and chancellor of the Christian school, a day after reports thqat Falwell and his wife took part in a sexual relationship with a former hotel pool attendant.
“Jerry Falwell Jr. had long made a point of emphasizing that he was not trying to be a moral leader. He made crude jokes, insulted fellow Christians and was photographed partying on yachts and in nightclubs. But he rarely apologized or expressed regret,” commented The New York Times in a story, Jan. 25.
The BBC reported that Falwell was a long time supporter of Trump.
“I have never been a minister,” he explained on Twitter last year. He liked to tell reporters that Jesus did not tell Emperor Caesar how to run Rome.
“That was always an unusual stance for the head of a distinctly evangelical institution.
“But Mr. Falwell pulled it off until recently, coasting by on a combination of success — Liberty’s endowment grew to $1.6 billion under his watch — and good will engendered by lingering institutional fondness for his father, who founded the school and was both a minister and an administrator,” said the Times.
Jerry Falwell Sr. founded the private evangelical university in the U.S. state of Virginia in the 1970s as well as the conservative Moral Majority movement, a movement that campaigns on moral law.
Giancarlo Granda, 29, said he had an affair with Becki Falwell that started eight years ago. He claimed that she approached him when he was working as a pool boy at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami in March 2012, Christian Today reported.
“Explosively, he claimed that Jerry liked to watch the pair during their sexual liasons,” reported the Christian newspaper noting that Falwell denied the allegations.
“Becki had an inappropriate personal relationship with this person, something in which I was not involved — it was nonetheless very upsetting to learn about,” Falwell said in a statement to the Washington Examiner newpsaper.
Becki has admitted to the affair but refuted Granda’s claims that her husband watched.
At the Tree of Life Ministries, down the road from Liberty University, the senior pastor, Mike Dodson, did not have to look very far for sermon material about sin, redemption and what’s expected of a Christian, The New York Times reported on Aug. 25.
“You have watched one of the most influential leaders of this city, of the country and the world, the Christian community, go down,” Mr. Dodson said, bent with passion. “The Christian community is being laughed at.”
Christianity Today reported Aug. 25, “Falwell joins a regrettable list of prominent evangelical leaders brought down by sexual scandal.”
The newspaper said that critics also expressed frustration about the racial climate on campus, brought to the forefront by a divisive tweet in May that led several African Americans to cut ties with Liberty and dozens of African American alumni to call for his resignation.
EU on alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures against Korea
Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
On 30 July 2020 the Council adopted Decision (CFSP) 2020/1136[1] amending Council Decision (CFSP) 2016/849.
The Council confirmed the list of individuals and entities subject to the EU’s autonomous sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The Candidate Countries Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania[2], the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this Council Decision.
They will ensure that their national policies conform to this Council Decision.
The European Union takes note of this commitment and welcomes it.
[1] Published on 30.07.2020 in the Official Journal of the European Union L 247/30.
[2] The Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
Worshipers went online, but will they stay there?
When the novel coronavirus pandemic implanted itself into humanity there was a rush to online worship, evoking all sorts of predictions about how people would change the way they go pray.
A new piece of research by Pew on Aug. 17 showed that one-third of U.S. adults have watched religious services online or on television in the past month.
A little over half of them – or 18 percent of all adults – say they began doing this for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Of course, if you’re worshipping remotely, you can’t hug the other members of your congregation or shake hands with your minister, priest, rabbi or imam,” writes Alan Cooperman in the Pew analysis.
“But you can wear whatever clothes you want, turn up (or down) the volume, forget about traffic in the parking lot, and easily check out that service you’ve heard about in a congregation across town or even across the country.”
LOTS LIKE VIRTUAL WORSHIP
Pew finds that whatever the reasons, lots of people like virtual worship.
Nine out of 10 Americans who have watched services online or on TV in the past month say they are either “very” satisfied (54 percent) or “somewhat” satisfied (37 percent) with the experience/
A mere 8 percent say they are “not too” or “not at all” satisfied, according to the Pew Research Center survey conducted in mid-July.
So what does this bode for the future?
By the time the COVID-19 pandemic has finally run its course, will Americans have lost the habit of going in person to a church, synagogue, temple or mosque? Asks Pew.
Some commentators have suggested that just as the pandemic has accelerated the trend toward shopping online and made Americans reliant on the internet for work, school, health and entertainment, so might many, if not all, varieties of religious experience move online in the 21st century.
But the Pew survey says that’s not what the people who’ve been worshipping online see in their future.
On the contrary, most U.S. adults overall say that when the pandemic is over, they expect to go back to attending religious services in person as often as they did before the coronavirus outbreak.
The reality is that few expect the pandemic to permanently alter their religious worship routines.
The survey dound that a substantial share of Americans (43 percent) say they didn’t attend religious services in person before the pandemic struck and they don’t plan to start going to a church or other house of worship when it’s all over.
But 42 percent of U.S. adults say they plan to resume going to religious services about as often as they did before the outbreak, while 10 percent say they will go more often than they used to, and just 5 percent expect to go less often.
Similarly, many Americans are not interested in virtual services.
Two-thirds of U.S. adults say they have not watched religious services online or on TV in the past month.
But among one-third of U.S. adults who recently watched services online or on TV, relatively few (19 percent of this group, or 6 percent of all adults) say that once the pandemic is over, they intend to watch religious services more often than they did before it started.
High Representative EU concerning restrictive measures about Libya
Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Libya
On 30 July 2020, the Council adopted Council Decision (CFSP) 2020/1137[1].
The Council decided that the restrictive measures against all persons and entities in the lists set out in Annexes II and IV to Decision (CFSP) 2015/1333 should be maintained.
The Candidate Countries Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania[2], the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia align with this Council Decision.
They will ensure that their national policies conform to this Council Decision.
The European Union takes note of this commitment and welcomes it.
[1] Published on 31.07.2020 in the Official Journal of the European Union no. L 247, p. 40.
[2] The Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
EU on application of specific measures to combat terrorism
Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain countries on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism
On 30 July 2020, the Council adopted Decision (CFSP) 2020/1132[1].
The Council Decision updated the list of persons and entities involved in terrorist acts as laid down by EU Common Position 2001/931 of 27 December 2001.
The Candidate Countries Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania[2], the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the EFTA countries Iceland and Liechtenstein, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia align with this Council Decision.
They will ensure that their national policies conform to this Council Decision.
The European Union takes note of this commitment and welcomes it.
[1] Published on 31.07.2020 in the Official Journal of the European Union no. L 247 , p.18.
[2] The Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
COVID-19: UN urges ramping up social protection
COVID-19 is posing potential catastrophic impacts on people living with HIV and tuberculosis (TB) , with projected deaths to increase up to 10, 20 and 36 per cent for HIV, TB and malaria patients, respectively, over the next five years, according to UNAIDS, the UN agency dedicated to tackling the virus.
“Countries must ensure that everyone is able to receive essential services, including health care, and they must invest adequately in social protection programmes to keep people safe and to shield them from the consequences of losing their livelihoods,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS.
The most impacted
The highly disadvantaged will be most gravely impacted, particularly those in countries already afflicted by conflict, economic or climate crises.
And refugees are among the groups facing the greatest dangers.
At the same time, some 150 million full-time jobs were lost in the first quarter of the year and millions of other people are set to lose their livelihoods in the months ahead.
“Today, only 29 per cent of the world’s population has access to adequate social protection coverage,” said Guy Ryder, Director General of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
“Governments must act to ensure the sustainability of livelihoods, businesses and jobs and the protection of workers’ health, rights and incomes during and after COVID-19”.
A case for women
Women are particularly vulnerable to the economic crisis.
Disproportionately employed in the informal sectors, they are most likely to lose their incomes.
Comprising 70 per cent of the health and social care workforce, they are also often employed on the frontline of the COVID-19 response.
Furthermore, women carry out the bulk of unpaid domestic duties in the home, childcare and other caring functions.
And with the lockdown triggering and increase in gender-based violence, it is imperative for Governments to invest in social protection programmes designed specifically for women and girls, UNAIDS said.
Countries need to live up to their commitment for social protection for everyone who needs it — UNICEF chief
Youth in crosshairs
School closures, which have affected more than 90 per cent of the world’s student population, have not only interrupted education but also pupils’ access to crucial social services, such as school meals.
“Children and young people are suffering disproportionately from the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis,” said Henrietta H. Fore, Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF.
“Before the outbreak, two-out-of-three children had no or inadequate social protection fund.”
Moreover, the socio-economic crash caused by the pandemic is placing an entire generation of young people at risk.
“Countries need to live up to their commitment for social protection for everyone who needs it,” she added.
Call for action
The call for Governments to invest adequately in social protection programmes is endorsed by UNAIDS, UNICEF and the International Labour Organization (ILO) and supported by the World Food Programme (WFP), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Bank.
Estonian Catholics recall victims of Stalinism and Nazism – Vatican News
By Devin Watkins
The memorial to victims of Nazism and Stalinism cuts right to the heart of the tiny Catholic Church in Estonia.
The EU member state’s first Catholic bishop following the Reformation was deported to the Soviet Union in 1942. Archbishop Eduard Profittlich died in a Soviet prison in hatred of the faith, like many other Estonians.
The nation recalled those numerous victims with a solemn ceremony in the capital, Tallinn, on Sunday.
Bishop Philippe Jourdan, the Apostolic Administrator of Estonia, spoke to Vatican Radio about the Day of Remembrance.
Tributes to fallen family members
Bishop Jourdan said the ceremony took place at the new Memorial to the Victims of Communism.
The names of 22,000 Estonians are inscribed there, in tribute to their deaths during the deportations of 1940.
“For a small country like Estonia, that’s quite a lot,” said Bishop Jourdan. “In almost every Estonian family there is at least one person who died.”
The Soviet Union occupied Estonia in June 1940, and vast numbers of people were deported, many because they were ethnic Germans.
Refusing to flee
Archbishop Eduard Profittlich was one of the unfortunate ones. He had received orders from Soviet authorities to return to Germany.
But he refused to abandon his Catholic flock, and chose to stay in Tallinn, despite the obvious risks.
Archbishop Profittlich was arrested on 27 June 1941 and sent to a Soviet prison camp. He died from exposure and starvation in Kirov prison on February 22, 1942.
Bishop Jourdan noted that his predecessor’s cause for beatification is currently under review in Rome.
“I would say it is coming along at a good pace,” he said, “because we received the ‘Decree of Validity’ from the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints in June.”
That means the documents which have been gathered over the past 17 years regarding the Servant of God Profittlich are sufficient and complete.
Recognizing tragic moment in history
Bishop Jourdan expressed his hopes that the Pope will one day clear the way for Profittlich’s beatification.
“It’s important for the Catholic Church here in Estonia, because he would be our first saint,” he said.
Since Archbishop Profittlich shared in the tragic fate of so many Estonians, his beatification would mean quite a lot to even secular Estonian society.
“It’s a way for the universal Church to recognize what happened here in those years,” he concluded. “It’s important for all our families that this part of our history would be recognized.”
John Paul I Foundation names scientific committee – Vatican News
By Vatican News
The newly formed Vatican John Paul I Foundation released a statement on Wednesday. It states that on the 42nd anniversary of Pope John Paul I’s pontificate, they are pleased to communitate the members of the Foundation’s Ccientific Committee.
These persons were appointed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State and President of the new Foundation, during a meeting of the Administrative Board that took place on 3 July.
The people who make up this Scientific Committee will serve for a five-year period.
Dr Stefania Falasca, Vice President of the Foundation, will coordinate the new Scientific Committee which is made up of:
- Professor Carlo Ossola, Philology Professor, Collège de France, Paris
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Professor Dario Vitali, Director of the Department of Dogmatic Theology, Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome
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Msgr. Gilfredo Marengo, Vice President of Rome’s Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences
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Professor Mauro Velati, collaborator of the John XXIII Foundation for Religious Sciences and the cause of canonization of John Paul I relating to the Venetian years.
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Fr Diego Sartorelli, Director of the Library and Historical Archive of the Patriarchate of Venice
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Dr Loris Serafini, Archivist, Director of the Albino Luciani Museum in Canale d’Agordo
The statement also reads that the Prefect of the Vatian’s Apostolic Archives, Bishop Sergio Pagano, and the Prefect of the Vatican’s Apostolic Library, Fr Cesare Pasini, will also play a role on the Scientific Committee.
