The first meeting since the outbreak of COVID-19 of the small group of the Constitutional Committee, held under the auspices of UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen in Geneva, is positive news.
The European Union encourages all the parties to seriously engage in good faith on the substance in order to pursue concrete results.
The Constitutional Committee is a door opener for creating the conditions for a political solution to the Syria conflict, although it is not in itself a political solution. Constructive diplomacy by all international stakeholders on all aspects of UN Security Council Resolution 2254 is needed to reach a sustainable political solution.
The European Union commends the work and continues to support UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen in his tireless efforts to pursue a political solution in Syria.
In Mexico, where the poor have very limited and sporadic access to health services and hospital, up to fifty percent of those tested are showing symptoms of Covid-19.
The World Heath Organization says this shows an error of strategy with the pandemic. The WHO insists that there’s appreciably more Covid cases than meet the eye.
Its Emergency Program Executive Director, Mike Ryan, stresses: “Most certainly the scale of the testing remains limited with just three tests per one hundred thousand people.”
The WHO is calling for comprehensive testing as a paramount priority in order to prevent new outbreaks.
The current situation shows mismanagement in the treatment and restriction of the pandemic.
Heavy impact on indigenous groups
Ryan also points out that the pandemic is having a different and significant impact on indigenous enclaves in Mexico.
“There are a large number of people from indigenous communities reporting Covid 19,” he says.
In addition to this, many of these don’t believe the illness is real and there have been a number of violent demonstrations.
Mexican Health Authorities report there are 544,734 infections nationwide, 376,409 recoveries, and 59,610 deaths but candidly acknowledge this is significantly less than the real total.
The pandemic has hit Mexico all the harder, due to the high incidence of serious health conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and heart conditons.
The WHO says the introduction of a vaccine will not provide a total panacea. It’s also being estimated that fifteen million jobs will be lost.
Faith opens us to knowing and welcoming the real identity of Jesus, His newness and oneness, His word, as a source of life, in order to live a personal relationship with Him. Knowledge of the faith grows, it grows with the desire to find the way and in the end it is a gift of God who does not reveal Himself to us as an abstract thing without a face or a name, because faith responds to a Person who wants to enter into a relationship of deep love with us and to involve our whole life.
For this reason our heart must undergo the experience of conversion every day, every day it must see us changing from people withdrawn into themselves to people who are open to God’s action, spiritual people (cf. 1 Cor 2:13-14), who let themselves be called into question by the Lord’s word and open their life to his Love.
(Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus, 14 August 2011)
Under the direction of Paolo Ondarza #BeautyThatUnites Instagram: @vaticanmuseums @VaticanNews Facebook: @vaticannews
(Photo: Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Koreak, 2020.)Peace convocation and march at the DMZ between the North and South Korea.
The war that erupted on the Korean Peninsula 70 years ago to divide Korea has yet to end, so more prayers and discussion are needed to raise awareness for the path to reconciliation and peaceful coexistence in the divided nation, churches believe.
The relations between the nations that were involved in that war and are sometime engaged in trying to resolve the impasse that exists, ebb and flow with some positive-looking signs emerging this week.
South Korea said Aug. 22 it held talks with China’s top diplomat over trade, denuclearization and the coronavirus response, in the first visit by a high-level Beijing official since the COVID-19 pandemic erupted late last year, Reuters news agency reported.
Yang Jiechi, a member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo, met with South Korea’s new national security adviser, Suh Hoon, in the southern port city of Busan, the South Korean government said.
The talks came after the COVID-19 pandemic had undercut bilateral exchanges and stalled denuclearization negotiations involving North Korea.
On Aug. 14, the World Council of Churches had published The Light of Peace: Churches in Solidarity with the Korean Peninsula, a collection of resources that member churches can use to recognize 70 years of unresolved conflict on the Korean Peninsula.
It notes that, “The division of Korea was followed by the Korean War. Some of the soldiers who served are still alive.”
“History, memory, and narrative are all interconnected with distinctive dimensions, involving a context-bound hermeneutical journey of the processes and events that have occurred for a people over an extended period,” said Rev. Hong-Jung Lee, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Korea.
RECONCILIATION AND PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE
“As peacemakers, we remember and interpret the period as a period of enhancing the people’s capacity for healing, reconciliation, and peaceful coexistence.”
In the book’s preface, Rev. Sang Chang, WCC Asia president, reflects that it is time for the Korean Peninsula to embrace the life of reconciliation and unification.
“This book traces the 70 years of modern Korean history, offering historical and geopolitical background on the division of Korea,” writes Chang.
She says this includes, “the spiritual and theological meanings of the global ecumenical initiatives for the peace and reunification on the Korean Peninsula.”
“Each chapter will foster an awareness of the pain and suffering caused by the 70 years of Korean War, enlivened by personal stories, interviews, and prayers, beginning with a spiritual reflection that serves as a theological introduction to the chapter.”
The Korean War was fought from 1950 to 1953, but fighting ceased only with an armistice, and a peace treaty is yet to be signed.
At least three million people are thought to have died in the fighting and families were wrenched apart by the division of the country.
Lee asked for continued prayers to arrive at a final peaceful settlement on the Korean Peninsula.
“We are trying to develop a people’s hermeneutics of peace so that we may testify God’s sovereignty of history: we confess that God will recreate a healed and reconciled Korean Peninsula with the fullness of life for all.”
PRACTICAL STEPS TO REMOVE THREAT
In the introduction, Rev. Ioan Sauca, WCC interim general secretary, urges Christians to take bold new steps for peace.
“It is time to find ways of taking real practical steps toward removing the permanent threat of war, toward peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula, and ultimately toward reunification of the long-divided Korean people,” he writes.
The book notes, “People in the North and South have become antagonistic strangers toward each other, deeply distorted by a Cold War consciousness and culture.
“As result the Korean Peninsula has now been sunk into the quagmire of the global military industrial complex of mass destruction on an apocalyptic scale.”
South African church leader Rev. Frank Chikane, moderator of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, says in the book, “It is important to recognize that places like the Korean Peninsula are victims of history, of the geopolitics of the world and different interests that have nothing to do with the interests of Koreans both in the North and South.
“If the global players continue to pursue their interests at the expense of the Koreans in the peninsula, we must support the Koreans to agree on their own peace agreement, ending the war between them,” he said.
Following an ecumenical consultation initiated by the WCC in Tozanso, Japan, in 1984, the ecumenical movement has played an important role through prayer, cooperation for reconciliation, dialogue, and peaceful reunification.
From March 1 to Aug. 15, 2020, the WCC, together with the National Council of Churches in Korea, has observed a Global Prayer Campaign, “We Pray, Peace Now, End the War.”
As part of the campaign, the WCC has been sharing prayers and stories commemorating 70 years since the start of the Korean War, inviting churches worldwide to join in prayers for Korea.
The Light of Peace will be translated it into Korean by the National Council of Churches in Korea.
There are, estimated, 25,000 Hindus who live in Ireland, according to the director of the Vedic Hindu Cultural Centre
The Irish Times has reported today that Ireland’s first official Hindu Temple has formally opened its doors this Saturday in Walkinstown after two decades of raising funds and planning by the Irish Hindu community.
The new temple, which is marking, according to The Irish Times, its opening by holding a number of small events over the weekend with limited numbers to keep in line with Covid-19 restrictions, and expects thousands of Hindus from all around Ireland to pass through its doors over the coming months.
While the centre will primarily serve as a place of worship for Hindus, it will also offer meditation and yoga classes, language classes, music and dance workshops and be available for school visits and youth activities for the general public, Sudhansh Verma, director of the Vedic Hindu Cultural Centre of Ireland told The Irish Times.
“The community has been waiting for this for a long time so everyone is very excited. Finally we’ll have a place to embrace our culture, we miss that link here. We expect between 8-10,000 people will have visited by the end of the year but for now we have to keep following restrictions on numbers.”
Mr Verma, who has lead the campaign to find a permanent home for a Hindu temple in Ireland for nearly two decades, says the community has been relying on temporary locations to offer space for worship up until now and described the opening as “a historic moment”.
“Before this we were renting places and moving around all the time. We used community centres, school halls, GAA centres but now finally the hunt is over.
“I remember doing my first prayer session in Clontarf castle in 2001 and we had about 200 people. Back then I could count on my fingers how many people from India and Nepal lived here. But the community has grown a lot.
While the 2016 census recorded just over 14,300 Hindus living in Ireland, Mr Verma says the actual figure, when taking into account the number of students, nurses tech workers who have moved here in recent years, is much closer to 25,000 people.
Asked if the Hindu community has experienced any racism or rejection in this country, Mr Verma told The Irish Times that he’s always found Ireland to be “generous and kind”. He underlined that the new centre at the Sunbury Industrial Estate in Walkinstown would be open to people of “all faiths and religions”.
“We as a religion do not believe in fundamentalism; we believe we are all a family and can have different manifestations of God. We want people to live together peacefully and amicably, that is the main objective. This will not only be a spiritual centre but a community centre.”
He added that he hoped the centre’s kitchen could be used to provide food to homeless people working in partnership with local charities. Teenagers studying religion at Leaving Cert level will be able to attend classes on Hinduism at the temple, he said.
While the centre is open to the public, no walk-in visitors will be allowed while Covid-19 restrictions remain in place and access to the site is only available through pre-booking via the Vedic Hindu Cultural Centre.
Borrell: Urge Libyan parties, to translate principles into concrete actions
Libya – Declaration by the High Representative Josep Borrell on behalf of European Union on the political announcements by the Libyan Presidency Council and the Libyan House of Representatives
The European Union warmly welcomes the announcements issued on August 21, 2020 by the President of the Presidency Council Fayez Al-Serraj and Speaker of the House of Representatives Aguila Saleh. This is a constructive first step forward, which demonstrates the determination of the Libyan leaders to overcome the current stalemate and creates a new hope for a common ground towards a peaceful political solution to the longstanding Libyan crisis and the termination of all foreign interference throughout the country.
We fully support the agreement around the principles to immediately cease all military activities across Libya, requiring the departure of all foreign fighters and mercenaries present in Libya, and resume the negotiating process in the framework of the UN-led Berlin process.
We now urge all the Libyan parties, and all those supporting them in any form, to translate these principles into concrete actions on the ground leading to a permanent ceasefire, as part of the discussions within the 5+5 joint military committee and to relaunch the political process.
We took note of the announcements regarding the lifting of the blockade on oil infrastructure. We now call for these announcements to be followed by concrete developments in terms of a full resumption at full capacity throughout the country in the interest of all the Libyan people, along with the implementation of economic reforms with a view to agreeing on a fair and transparent distribution mechanism for oil revenues and to enhancing the governance of Libyan economic and financial institutions.
The European Union reiterates its full support to the UN and the Libyans in implementing these principles. We reaffirm our commitment to the Libyan people in their efforts to establish a sovereign, united, stable and prosperous country.
“The killings in Nigerian have been going on now for a long time. They are very worrisome, and the Bishops of Nigeria have declared a forty-day prayer period which will end on the last day of September. Then a day of common prayers on the 1 October, which is also the nation’s Independence Day,” explained Fr. Patrick Alumuku, Director of communications at the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja in an interview with Andrea De Angelis of Vatican News. He is also the Director of Nigerian Catholic -CTV.
During the period of prayer, Nigerian Bishops have called upon all Catholics to pray, daily, one Our Father, three Hail Marys, as well as one Glory Be to the Father. On 1 October (Nigeria’s Independence Day), the faithful are to pray the five decades of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary beads “for God to save Nigeria.”
Nigerians frustrated at Government’s inability to contain the insecurity
The forty-day prayer period comes against a background of persistent terrorist attacks mostly carried out by Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen as well as other criminal gangs. The attacks are especially rampant in northern Nigeria. Christians are often the victims. However, the violence is also indiscriminate and is calculated at causing as much mayhem and misery as possible. Thousands of innocent citizens are now Internally Displaced in Nigeria or have sought refuge in neighbouring countries. Ordinary Nigerians in villages and public places are haunted by lingering constant insecurity in the face of killings, bombings, conscriptions and the brazen abductions of women and girls.
Fr. Alumuku, told Vatican News that Nigerians, especially Christians, are tired and frustrated that notwithstanding many promises, authorities have failed to contain the widespread insecurity.
“The killings in Nigeria have gone on for a long time without the intervention of the Government. Christians are frustrated and exasperated by this situation and have even called for a change of leadership in the security agencies,” said Fr. Alumuku.
He added that there is a feeling that some elements in the Nigerian Government could be aiding terrorists judging by the Government’s inertia in handling the country’s security situation.
Pope Francis’s prayers comfort and sustain the faith of Nigerians
Fr. Alumuku continues, “Pope Francis’s prayer and the appeal for peace in Nigeria made on the Feast of Assumption (last week); also the Nigerian Bishops’ call for forty days of prayer are the things sustaining the Christian faith of the people of Nigeria,” he emphasised.
Fr. Alumuku further appealed to the international community to join in pressuring the Government of Nigeria to “ensure that Christians in Nigeria (can also) live in peace.”
On 15 August, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pope Francis prayed for northern Nigeria after the Angelus Prayer in the Saint Peter’s Square.
“Today I would like to pray in particular for the population of the northern region of Nigeria, victims of violence and terrorist attacks,” prayed Pope Francis.
The Right Reverend Paul Mason is the Military Bishop for England and Wales. He is also the Lead Bishop for Health and Social Care. An article he wrote appeared on Wednesday in the online edition of The Tablet. It was subsequently posted on the Bishop’s Conference of England and Wales website on Thursday.
Bishop Mason touches on a critical aspect of care for the elderly and other persons in assisted living or nursing facilities who suffer from dementia and other forms of diseases that affect the mind. “People suffering with dementia are some of the most vulnerable in our society,” the Bishop states. What they deserve, he says, is “all the love we can muster.”
And yet, with Covid-19 restrictions locking out loved ones, the one thing they need is beyond their grasp. Their needs “can be neglected”, the Bishop continues, at times “assumptions made about what is best for them” and their loved ones “who wish to visit them.”
Need for love ones
Bishop Mason reminds us that just because a person’s ability to reason or remember may be impaired, their ability to feel may not be. Rather, “meaningful human interactions can make a real difference” in how the particular disease progresses.
Care staff in some facilities have left their own families for “weeks or even months”, Bishop Mason recounts, owing to the Covid-19 restrictions. Even though they have demonstrated such “great sacrifice” and some also “tragically lost their lives as a result of Covid-19,” professional care is not enough.
There is an irreplaceable role that can only be filled by the patients’ loved ones: sitting “with a resident for long periods, talking or reading to them, playing them music, holding their hand.” Lack of such loving interaction can hasten either the deterioration of the disease or even death, Bishop Mason notes.
Love vs broken heart
The disconnection is experienced both by the loved ones, as well as by the resident receiving care, Bishop Mason writes. He also cites Dr Donald Macaskill, CEO of Scottish Care, who has shared experiences of dementia patients in care homes “dying of a broken heart due to a lack of contact with their loved ones.”
Bishop Mason leaves us with the question regarding the fine line between safety, protecting ourselves and others, and the “purpose of being alive.” And he proposes that the answer be love when the alternative is dying of a broken heart.
The Archbishop of Blantyre, in Malawi, has urged parishioners to own the Archdiocese’s upcoming Kuwala FM radio station and ensure its sustainability right from the onset.
Archbishop Msusa was speaking, this week, during an interface meeting with Kuwala FM taskforce members at the Archbishop’s House when they presented a progress report of the radio project. Archbishop Msusa said it was inspiring that the Archdiocese has embarked on the ambitious project.
“I am impressed with the commitment of the taskforce team and the progress made so far. We can hope the radio station will hit the airwaves soon,” the Archbishop said.
Broadening channels of evangelization
He added that it is his wish that the radio would be sustainable without depending on him as Archbishop.
“Christians need to start embracing the idea of having a radio station in the Archdiocese. We can succeed if we work together on this project. It is not my radio station but ours. The success of this important project lies in the hands of all of us,” he said.
Archbishop Msusa said the main agenda of the radio station is to broaden channels of evangelization within the Archdiocese and beyond.
Describing the radio project as a landmark, Archbishop Msusa said he was grateful that what started as a mere dream “is now becoming a reality.”
He pledged full support to the project and urged parishioners to pray for the successful launch of the project.
Kuwala FM will be on air soon
Archdiocese of Blantyre Communications Coordinator, Father Frank Mwinganyama commended the Archbishop for the support he is rendering to the project, urging others to emulate the generous gesture of the Archbishop. He also assured the Archbishop that in the next three months, Kuwala FM would hit the airwaves.
“All preparations for studio refurbishment, equipment purchases and co-siting agreements are at an advanced stage”, Father Mwinganyama said.
He added that the radio station is expected to reach out to more than 2.5 million Christians in the Archdiocese of Blantyre and surrounding areas.
A growing Catholic media presence
The Church in Malawi already has Radio Alinafe of Lilongwe Archdiocese, Radio Tigabane of Mzuzu Diocese and Tuntufye FM of Karonga Diocese.
Other Catholic media houses in the country include Radio Maria Malawi, Luntha Television and Montfort Media in the Diocese of Mangochi.
Polio vaccination campaigns have resumed in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the last two countries in the world where polio is endemic, following a hiatus imposed by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The restart has been accompanied by new guidelines, to help ensure the safety of patients, and health workers.
In an interview with UN News, Ms. Gul described how she and her colleagues reacted to the arrival of COVID-19 in Pakistan, and why she continues to put herself at risk.
“I have been aware of the importance of vaccination from an early age. I remember my mother telling me and my siblings that we must complete our vaccinations. She would tell us how harmful polio is, and how we could be paralysed if we caught it.
From the beginning of my career with UNICEF, though, I have been confronted with people who were very resistant to the idea of vaccination. In more isolated communities, in particular, there are many misconceptions about vaccines. Some people think that the vaccine will make them infertile, or that it is a Western conspiracy. Sometimes we would be subject to abuse, or even physical attacks.
So, I am used to risk, but the beginning of the pandemic was, nevertheless, a very unsettling time for me and my colleagues. In Karachi, where I’m based, lockdown began on 22 March. Our office gave us 10 days leave and told us to stay at home. But, after returning to work, I caught COVID-19.
I was then quarantined and became very weak. I had headaches, fever and shortness of breath. My family were very concerned by my condition and, eventually, they took me to the hospital.
Thanks to Allah, I survived, but I am not completely recovered, and my body is still weak. I have swollen feet, and if I walk for more than 10 minutes, I will find myself sweating, and out of breath.
Despite this, I went back to work. We are health workers: our job is to take care of other people’s children, by vaccinating as many of them as possible. Yes, COVID-19 is dangerous, but polio is still endemic in this country. We have to focus on both these diseases.
As for my own personal safety, I am a little afraid, but I think that I will be okay if I follow the standard procedures: wear gloves and a face mask, use hand sanitizer, and make sure that I frequently wash my hands.
UNICEF/Asad Zaidi
A health worker vaccinates a 4-year-old girl against polio at the door of her house in Bhatti gate area of Lahore Punjab Province, Pakistan.
Growing resistance
The lockdown has had some very serious consequences. Children’s health is definitely being put at risk due the pandemic. A friend of mine, for example, has a child who is nearly two years old, and she has been too scared to go to the hospital to complete her child’s polio vaccinations.
And we are seeing the negative effects that the lockdown is having on the wider community: many people have lost their jobs, and have been asking us for ration provisions, and other health services. Sometimes we have received abuse. Last year, before the pandemic, we had seen some real improvements in the ways that the community responded to us. But now, we are worried that their resistance to us, and our programme, may be increasing.
But this doesn’t put me off. We know that we have the support of many people, including political leaders, and other influential members of the community, and it gives me inner happiness to know that I am helping my country, as part of a national cause.”
