epa09517870 A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows Kim Jong-Un, general secretary of the Worker's Party of Korea, giving a speech during a commemorative lecture organized by the Central Committee of the WPK, celebrating a significant founding anniversary of the Party, at the office building of the Party's Central Committee in Pyongyang, North Korea, 10 October 2021 (issued 11 October 2021). EPA/KCNA EDITORIAL USE ONLY
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
UNAIDS calls on countries to adopt urgent measures to reinforce social protection programmes to shield the most vulnerable people from the health and socio-economic impact of #COVID19.
“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 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.
Student-members of the Health Brigade outside the latrines of Dikolelayi Primary School in Kananga, Kasai-Occidental province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
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.
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.
Listen to the full interview
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.”
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
Professor Dario Vitali, Director of the Department of Dogmatic Theology, Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome
Msgr. Gilfredo Marengo, Vice President of Rome’s Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences
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.
Fr Diego Sartorelli, Director of the Library and Historical Archive of the Patriarchate of Venice
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.
Speaking to reporters, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said, “[We] respectfully request our spiritual leaders to bring this much-needed message of hope to our suffering countrymen in order to stave off more incidents of self-destruction.”
The Justice Secretary, who is also a member of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), said they had asked the Catholic Church and other denominations for their assistance to provide counseling and guidance to those suffering from depression and distress as the pandemic continues.
Minister Guevarra said he had spoken with Secretary Carlito Galvez, chief implementer of the IATF national task force, about “the alarming increase in the number of suicides during these pandemic times.”
The rise in suicides and depression is being blamed on the economic fallout due to the pandemic. The period of lockdown has also led to feelings of isolation and anxiety.
The World Health Organisation describes mental health as “a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and can make a contribution to his or her community.”
According to the WHO, there has been a drastic increase in mental health disorders in the country since the start of the outbreak.
In a recent study, the health body said, “Thinking of whether life will ever return to normal, and how one will survive amid the pandemic, are some of the questions making ordinary Filipinos very anxious.”
“Likewise, questions like how will one survive economically and financially amid a pandemic; the sudden changes in everyday life and how to cope with them; the unremitting fear of being infected, the fear of dying from the virus, or the fear that a family member or relative might be infected with COVID-19 and die, and the fear of not being able to receive medical treatment in time are also playing on the minds of many Filipinos.”
As part of its public health response, WHO says it “has worked with partners to develop a set of new materials on the mental health and psychosocial support aspects of COVID-19.”
Covid Hopeline already in place
One diocese that is already providing assistance to those struggling with anxiety and depression in these uncertain times is the Diocese of Kaloohan in Metro Manila which has set up a phone in counseling service known as “Covid Hopeline”.
During the months of lockdown in the Philippines, the National Centre for Mental Health reported a significant increase in the number of people experiencing mental health issues as a result of the pandemic.
One of the shortest pontificates in history could bring to the honour of the altars another pope of the 20th century. John Paul I lived only 34 days on the Chair of Peter, but his testimony – not only in that short period of time, but more so in the previous decades as bishop and pastor, esteemed even outside the Italian borders – remains very tangible in the Church even today.
It was 42 years ago that Albino Luciani, the Patriarch of Venice, was elected pope on the fourth ballot on August 26, 1978, and assumed the double name “John Paul”, in homage to his immediate predecessors, John XXIII and Paul VI. The former appointed him Bishop of Vittorio Veneto, thus including him among the Fathers of the Council; while the latter transferred him to Venice and created him cardinal.
The month-long pontificate of John Paul I earned for him from the media the title, “the Smiling Pope”. The world came to learn that the mild character that his expression revealed was never an indication of a lack of spiritual clarity and pastoral energy. Proof of this was his attitude and the work he did at the Second Vatican Council.
Breath of the Universal Church
During the working sessions of the Council, the future pope lived an intense experience of the Universal Church. “In the Council hall,” he wrote to the faithful of his diocese in 1963, “it is enough for me to raise my eyes to the steps in front of me.” “There they are, the beards of missionary bishops, the black faces of Africans, the protruding cheekbones of Asians.” “And it’s enough for me to exchange a few words with them, and visions and needs open up, of which we have no idea”. In other words, one feels the breath of “Christian optimism”, which promises to be the fruit of the Council, against the “widespread pessimism” of relativistic culture.
Towards beatification
The cause of the sainthood of John Paul I has been underway since 2003. After three years of the diocesan phase, the documents arrived in Rome in 2006, and the “positio” (formal argument for sainthood) of Pope Luciani began to be examined by experts at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. A meticulous investigation of the testimonies and documents led to the conclusion of the case in November 2017. A miracle that will clear him for beatification is currently being examined. It concerns a presumed extraordinary healing through the intercession of John Paul I that took place in 2011 in Argentina, in the Diocese of Buenos Aires.
In his greetings to Polish-speaking faithful during the weekly General Audience, Pope Francis took note of the feast of Our Lady of Czestochowa, honoured as the Queen and Protectress of Poland.
Recalling his own visit to the Shrine of Jasna Gora during his visit to Poland for World Youth Day in 2016, the Holy Father said, “I unite myself today to the thousands upon thousands of pilgrims who are gathered there, together with the Polish episcopate, to entrust themselves, their families, the nation, and all of humanity to her maternal protection.”
Pope Francis invited the faithful gathered at the Shrine to “pray to the Blessed Mother to intercede for us all, especially for those who in different ways are suffering from the [Covid-19] pandemic, and bring them relief.”
The Polish Episcopal Conference met together at Poland’s national shrine ahead of their 386th Plenary Assembly, which formally opens on Thursday in Jasna Gora. It is the first plenary meeting held this year, as earlier gatherings scheduled for March and June were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary goes back to the earliest days of Christianity in Poland, says Father Michal Legan, spokesman for the Jasna Gora Sanctuary. “It was the most important sign of the Lord’s grace during the very, very difficult history, even in the darkest moments of our national history,” he said in an interview with Vatican Media’s Emanuela Campanile. “Even in the darkest hours of the personal story of each of us, she was present, and she was the point of the hope and of the faith,” he said.
“She’s the most important way to Jesus” for each of us, he added.
Entrusted to Our Lady of Czestochowa
Father Legan said that throughout the pandemic, the people of Poland “are looking to Our Lady with faith and prayer, with all our hopes.” That, he said, “is why the Polish episcopate is gathered here during the feast of Our Lady of Czestochowa, to proclaim the act of devotion an act of love and hope,” to express to the Madonna “that we of the nation are her children and we want her as our queen.”
Father Legan noted that, during his visit to Jasna Gora four years ago, Pope Francis said Poland had a great privilege, “because we have our mother as the queen, and our queen as the mother.”
Prayer to the Blessed Mother during the pandemic
Poles have felt the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary and have turned to her in prayer throughout the coronavirus crisis. Father Legan noted that the sanctuary has seen far fewer pilgrims since the beginning of the pandemic. But even if the faithful are not able to come to Jasna Gora, he said, there is still a special, spiritual bond, “with the sanctuary, with the holy icon, and this is something we know deeply in our hearts.”
That is why “we pray every day to our Black Madonna for all the people who are sick, and for all who work” in the field of medicine.
And, he said, “we can assure you that here in the Sanctuary of Our Lady, this prayer, will be continued.”
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