Pope Francis continues to make his heartfelt appeal for generosity and solidarity for communities and countries hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic by personally leading the way through concrete acts of closeness and affection.
This he carries out through the Office of Papal Charities, a department of the Holy See headed by the Apostolic Almoner, or papal almsgiver, Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski.
In the latest move, the Cardinal says in a Statement released by the Holy See Press Office on Monday, the Pope’s charity is being directed to Brazil. Eight Draeger intensive care ventilators and 6 portable Fuji ultrasound scanners are being shipped to needy hospitals in Brazil.
This, Cardinal Krajewski says, has been made possible through the generous commitment of Hope Association, an Italy-based non-profit group that helps needy children and communities. Highly specialized in humanitarian projects on health and education, Hope Association, he says, finds ways to obtain high-tech life-saving medical equipment through donors, and arranges for their shipping and installation in hospitals.
Helping the poorest and neediest
These medical devices will be delivered to hospitals in Brazil chosen by the Apostolic Nunciature, so that “this gesture of Christian solidarity and charity can really help the poorest and neediest people”.
On several occasions, the Office of Papal Charities has mobilized medical material and equipment to be donated to many health facilities in situations of emergency and poverty around the world so that many human lives are treated and saved.
After the United States, Brazil has the world’s worst coronavirus scenario, reporting more than 3.3 million cases and close to 108,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
The Indian Soldiers sent out a clear message to the Chinese after they celebrated the country 74th Independence Day at the Pangong Lake. Lake so popular is the fact that it keeps changing colors. Situated in the Himalayan range it is approximately 140 km from Leh in Jammu and Kashmir. The name of the lake Pangong was got from a Tibetan word Banggong Co that means a narrow and enchanted lake. And now you know that the lake has got its name rightfully. You will know this when you visit the beautiful lake of Pangong. You are sure to be enchanted by the charm. And because the lake is a long stretch, one third area of the lake lies within our country and the other two third portion lies with Tibet and is controlled by China.
The personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Force hoisted the Tricolour and conducted a march, while also raising slogans of Bharat Mata Ki Jai. These celebrations took place in the midst of tensions with China at several points along the Line of Actual Control.
Amidst the stand off, Ambassador Vikram Misri held talks with Major General Ci Guowei, Director of the Office of International Military Cooperation of the Central Military Commission (CMC) on Friday. Misri briefed him about India’s stance on the border issue in eastern Ladakh.
Meanwhile Anurag Srivastava, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs said that both sides agreed on the broad principles of disengagement and based on it some progress had been earlier made.
I must add that translating these principles on the ground is a complex process that requires deployment of troops by each side towards their regular posts on their respective side of the Line of Actual Control. It is natural that this can be done only through mutually agreed reciprocal actions, he also said.
He further added that we would like the ongoing disengagement process to be completed at the earliest. It is also important to bear in mind that achieving this requires agreed actions by both sides, Srivastava also added.
Srivastava also said, “we, therefore, expect the Chinese side to sincerely work with us towards the objective of complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquility in the border areas as agreed by the Special Representatives. This is also necessary and essential in the context of overall development of our bilateral relationship. As External Affairs Minister had noted in a recent interview, the state of the border, and the future of our ties cannot be separated.”
Misri had earlier met with Liu Jianchaou, the deputy director office of the CPC Central Committee Foreign Affairs Commission.
During the meeting, Misri meet Jianchaou of India’s stance on the situation on the borders on easter Ladakh and the overall bilateral relations.
The meeting was important considering the influence Liu holds with the CPC’s foreign affairs division. He would be able to convey the need to resolve the border row at a political level. New Delhi is looking for another round of official talks through an established diplomatic channel. The talks are likely to take place this week, the official cited above also said.
The Pangong Lake falls on the Sino-Indian Line of Actual Control and to visit this beautiful lake you are required to get Inner Line permission. Also because the Pangong Lake is situated very close to the border, you will be allowed to visit only up to a certain area. You can explore the lake till the Spangmik village.
“Ultimately, the 17th of October … provides sufficient time for parties to plan around the range of circumstances we will be campaigning under.”
Those were Jacinda Ardern’s words at a press conference on Monday as she delayed the country’s general election.
The decision came after parties complained they could not campaign with nearly a third of New Zealand’s five million people under lockdown in Auckland due to the pandemic.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, who had called for a delay, said “common sense has prevailed”.
Restrictions were imposed on Auckland last Wednesday after a number of new infections were discovered.
On Monday, the country recorded nine new cases of COVID-19, bringing the number of active cases to 78.
The origin of the new outbreak is still unknown. Authorities said previously that it could have been through a cold-storage facility where one of the infected individuals worked.
In total, 1,280 cases have been confirmed in the country, and 22 deaths.
Re-scheduled elections
The election had been scheduled for September 19 and New Zealand law requires it to be held by November 21.
The Election Commission said it was ready to hold a vote with health measures in place, including hand sanitiser and social distancing in voting centres, protective equipment for staff and contact-tracing systems.
The people of Auckland and those in the city are being advised to wear masks in public in order to avoid spreading the virus.
There has also been an increase in border testing at ports and airports.
Today the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published its updated Risk Dashboard based on the first quarter of 2020 Solvency II data.
The results show that the risk exposures of the European Union insurance sector remain generally high compared to April as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemics continued to cause disruptions in all financial sectors and economic activities. Insurers are particularly exposed to very high levels of macro risk, while market, credit, profitability and solvency risks are at high level.
With regard to macro risk, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth as well as inflation forecasts have been revised significantly downwards for all geographical areas. The unemployment rate increased following a steep fall of business activities. Fiscal balances are expected to deteriorate. As a response to the crisis, the governments announced their interventions to sustain the halted economies.
Credit risk remains at high level, as the risk of credit events persist elevated going forward. Profitability and solvency risks remain at high level. Following the COVID-19 impact, the expected deterioration is already reflected in asset over liabilities and in weakening of Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR) ratios for groups and non-life undertakings. A further drop of SCR ratios for both life and non-life undertakings is expected for the next quarter, with the depreciation of assets in the context of COVID-19 as well as effects of already pre-existing low yield environment. The net combined ratio improved for non-life insurance undertakings.
Insurance risks decreased to medium level. On one hand, year-on-year premium growth for life undertakings significantly declined indicating already a negative impact from the COVID-19 outbreak. On the other hand, year-on-year premium growth for non-life undertakings and loss ratio show a slight improvement. Catastrophe loss ratio continues increasing following the significant events occurred during 2019 and 2020.
Market perceptions remained stable at medium level. Stocks of life and non-life insurance undertakings continued to underperform relative to the market, which in contrast experienced an unexpected increase. Insurers’ Credit Default Swaps (CDS) spreads returned to lower level, with insurers’ external outlooks showing a net increase in negative revision as of June 2020.
Barely, a few hours after Pope Francis’ Saturday tweets, urging prayers for northeast Nigeria, on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a sizeable number of Nigerian military personnel attended Sunday Mass at the Madagali community parish in the Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri. This is according to information made available to Vatican News’ English Africa Service by Fr. Gideon Obasogie of the Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri.
It was an emotional Eucharistic celebration as the Madagali community Mass turned into a celebration of thanksgiving. The Nigerian military personnel, in attendance, had literally come from the front line following a week spent repelling a series of Boko Haram attempted attacks on the Madagali community.
Pope Francis is praying with us, says Parish Priest
The Parish Priest, Fr. Innocent Sunu encouraged the Military personnel to remain steadfast in protecting the vulnerable community. He reminded parishioners that they were not alone, but that the Holy Father, Pope Francis, and the Universal Church were praying and were united with them in their life of constant insecurity.
We are neglected by politicians
Fr. Sunu, however, said the state of insecurity in Nigeria and particularly in the northern regions was the result of neglect by politicians. With some bridges in the region recently washed away by heavy rains or destroyed by Boko Haram, the area could as well be considered “comfortably cut off from other towns,” said Fr. Sunu.
“The weak but faithful Christians here in the north (of Nigeria) have nothing much to say or do other than seek the intercession of our Mother of Hope -as prayed by the Holy Father. This is the only lifeline left for our people in a country where our political leaders seem to have fallen asleep at the wheel and have taken their eyes off the ball,” lamented the Madagali Parish Priest.
Madagali is near the Sambisa forest
Nigeria’s Madagali community has in the past been vulnerable to Boko Haram attacks because it is situated just a few kilometres from the infamous Sambisa forest that unfortunately has become synonymous with Boko Haram terrorists. Boko Haram has used the forest as its fortress and hiding place.
The insurgents have been waging deadly attacks against the Nigerian State in a bid to impose their brand of a religious government (Caliphate). In the process, Boko Haram has attacked civilians through killings, bombings, forced conscription and abductions of women and girls.
Abducted victims are often spirited away in the dense Sambisa forest. Over the last few years, the Nigerian military has, appeared to have gained a noticeable upper hand over the terrorists. Nonetheless, Boko Haram are relentless fighters who are still a significant menace to Nigerian society.
We thank God for sparing us from COVID-19
Turning to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Madagali Parish Priest, Fr. Sunu, thanked God that, so far, the community had been spared the worst.
“We give thanks to God for His care as we have been protected against the Coronavirus. The world is experiencing a global pandemic, but we have been saved in this our little village. If COVID-19 cases come here, the numbers would hit the roof, and we would all be history because the health care facilities here are as good as non-existent,” said the Parish Priest.
On Sunday 16 August, the largest rally in Belarusian modern history took place. Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians took to the streets all across Belarus to participate in the Freedom March. These peaceful demonstrations had clear demands: the release of all unlawfully detained people, the prosecution of those responsible for police brutality, and holding of new presidential elections.
The sheer numbers clearly show that the Belarusian population wants change, and wants it now. The EU stands by them.
With more and more shocking reports of inhumane conditions and treatment in places of detention, the European Union expects a thorough and transparent investigation into all alleged abuses, in order to hold those responsible to account. The European Union Delegation to Belarus has conveyed our expectations to the Belarusian authorities.
As announced by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, EU Heads of State or Government will discuss the situation in Belarus on Wednesday, where I will update them on progress on these EU initiatives.
Pope Francis is urging Brazil’s consecrated men and women to fight worldly tendencies is “to give priority to prayer” beccause the “person who keeps his or her eyes fixed on Jesus learns that to live to serve.”
He makes this exhortation in a message to them as they observe the first Week of Consecrated Religious Life, August 16 to 22. In the message addressed to Sister Maria Inês Vieira Ribeiro, the national president of the Conference of the Religious of Brazil (CRB), the Pope expresses his joy at the initiative which “aims to promote and renew the mission” of each consecrated religious in the Land of the Holy Cross, as the first explorers of the unknown territory called it.
The Holy Father, himself a Jesuit, reminds them that the vocation of a religious has its origin in the experience of knowing that one is loved by God. Life itself, he explains, is the fruit of the loving call of God, who accompanies us along our journey, and is aware of our anxious longing for love and happiness, He calls us to joy. This joy, the Pope stresses, is found only in the gift of self to others.
Prayer helps fix gaze on Jesus
In today’s society, which is undergoing epochal changes, the Pope urges the religious to “be vigilant in order to avoid the temptation to have a worldly outlook, which prevents us from seeing God’s grace as the protagonist of life and leads us to go out in search of a substitute”.
And the best antidote against such a temptation, the Pope says, is to give priority to prayer in the midst of all our activities. A person who keeps his gaze fixed on Jesus, learns to live and serve, recalling that he or she is loved.
Our first love
Pope Francis thus invites Brazil’s religious men and women to ask themselves: “Is Jesus truly the first and only love, as we proposed when we professed our vows?” Only this way, the Holy Father says, “will we be able to truly and mercifully love each person we meet on our journey”. By learning from Jesus what love is will we know how to love, the Pope says.
Ever onward
Consecrated religious present in Rome participated in the recitation of the Angelus with Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square on Sunday. He singled them out, saying:
“In particular, I greet the Brazilian men and women religious present here in Rome – with so many flags – these religious are following spiritually the First National Week of Consecrated Life being celebrated in Brazil. Happy week of consecrated life. Ever onward!”
Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin has conveyed Pope Francis’s warmest greetings to Bishop Francesco Lambasi of Rimini, on the occasion of the opening of the Meeting for Friendship between Peoples.
“The Holy Father wishes to convey through you his wish for the success of the 41st Meeting for Friendship amongst Peoples,” reads the letter dated 5 August. “To the organizers and all those who will participate, Pope Francis assures his closeness and his prayer.”
Every year since 1980, the Meeting for Friendship between Peoples takes place in August, in Rimini, Italy.
This year’s meeting is themed: “Devoid of wonder we remain deaf to the sublime” from A.J. Heschel’s book God in Search of Man. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the meeting is taking place online.
Echoing Pope Francis’s words during the Extraordinary Moment of Prayer on 27 March 2020, Cardinal Parolin said that we all are in the same boat tossed about in a storm that unmasks our vulnerabilities especially since we are all affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The theme of this year’s meeting, therefore, “offers a precious and original contribution at a dizzying moment in history” when we have lost our ability to look in amazement at reality like children.
Instead, said the Cardinal, “many have focused exclusively on their own strengths, on their ability to produce and earn,” in our search for goods rather than for good.
It is for this reason that Jesus’s invitation to become like children (Mt 18:3) comes to mind as amazement “sets life in motion, allowing it to start again in any circumstance,” said Cardinal Parolin.
The world in the face of Covid
Cardinal Parolin pointed out that in recent months “we have experienced that dimension of amazement that takes the form of compassion in the presence of suffering, fragility and the precariousness of existence.”
This noble human feeling, he explains, has taken many forms including pushing doctors and nurses to face the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic; encouraging teachers to adapt to the difficulties of distance learning to finish the school year, and “allowing many to find in the faces and presence of their families, the strength to face discomfort and difficulties.”
In this sense, the theme of the meeting is a call to “descend into the depths of the human heart by means of amazement.” “Amazement”, he added “is the way to grasp the signs of the sublime, that is, of that mystery that constitutes the root and foundation of all things.”
If this type of vision is not cultivated, the Cardinal warned, “one becomes blind to existence, closed within oneself, attracted by what is fleeting, and stops questioning reality.”
Beauty in art
Cardinal Parolin recalled that Pope Francis recently received a letter from several artists who thanked him for praying for them during Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on 7 May. On that occasion, the Pope said: “Artists make us understand what beauty is, and without beauty the Gospel cannot be understood.”
In that regard, Cardinal Parolin said the Meeting launches a challenge to Christians to witness the profound attraction that faith exercises by virtue of its beauty. This, according to the Servant of God Luigi Giussani is the “attraction of Jesus.” And, as Pope Francis stresses in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (167), “every expression of true beauty can thus be acknowledged as a path leading to an encounter with the Lord Jesus…so a formation in the via pulchritudinis ought to be part of our effort to pass on the faith.”
Pope Francis, therefore, invites the Meeting’s participants to collaborate with him in witnessing to the experience of “the beauty of God who became flesh so that our eyes may marvel at his face and our eyes may find in him, the wonder of living.” This, “is a task from which we cannot refrain,” said the Cardinal, especially in this critical time in history.
Concluding, Cardinal Parolin said the Pope imparts his Apostolic Blessing on the participants of the Meeting, asking them to remember him in their prayers.
Protesters want change in Thailand. They are callingfor the government’s resignation, a new constitution and fresh elections.
Over the past few weeks there have been daily demonstrations in Bangkok led by student groups. However, Sunday’s protest was the biggest since a 2014 coup.
The message from the street is clear. Demonstrators are demanding that the government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha – who won disputed elections in 2019 – step down.
They want constitutional reform and for an end to the harassment of opposition activists.
But students are also turning their attention to the monarchy there. They are calling for its reform, including a curb on the current King’s constitutional powers, and an end to the monarchy’s role in politics, although there is no appetite for abolishing it.
Protest Roots
Anti-government protests first began late last year after courts banned the opposition Future Forward party, which opposed the current government.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the protests were mainly online based, but by July student groups were back on the streets.
The disappearance of a Thai anti-government activist in Cambodia, the latest of nine to go missing in recent years, has also fueled tensions.
Government action
Three student protest leaders have already been arrested and released on bail on charges over earlier protests. Police have also issued arrest warrants for a further 12 activists.
The government has said people have the right to protest, and the Prime Minister said he is seeking dialogue with demonstrators.
He also said the king has requested him not to use what are known as the “lese majeste laws” that can result in up to 15 years in prison for anyone criticizing the monarchy.
“Racism is a sin and should be eliminated in all its forms… individual, institutional, direct, and indirect”. Thus states the Archdiocese of the Port of Spain’s Catholic Commission for Social Justice (CCSJ).
The CCSJ issued the appeal in a statement last Thursday. They classify racism as a “vile worm that eats at the very soul of our beings and nation.”
This statement comes on the heels of the General Elections in Trinidad and Tobago on 10 August. The campaign preceding the election was characterized by racist sentiment. The CCSJ states it “abhors all the recent racist statements made on social media before and after” the General Election. They also say they are in agreement with an assessment made by UK journalist Kehinde Andrews that “focusing on individual prejudice” avoids “tackling endemic, systematic racism, leaving significant inequalities”.
Heart of the matter
In view of Trinidad and Tobago’s upcoming Independence Day celebrations, the CCSJ invites its citizens to “reflect NOW on ways in which each of us may have, wittingly or unwittingly, through thought, word, or action, fed this socially constructed, hydra-headed monster”, racism. “Let us commit to root out this evil from our hearts and minds. Indeed, the heart of the matter is in the human heart.”
The CCSJ says the vision of a country without racism is found in the laws, Constitution, Equal Opportunity Act and policies of the island nation, and in the values professed by faith communities. That vision can only become transformational when “we move from paper to action”, the CCSJ notes.
From racism to unity in diversity
“Justice and peace will never become a reality,” the CCSJ continued, “as long as racism exists”. They said the “rejection of racism in order to “embrace and promote unity in diversity” is “long overdue”.
The CCSJ say they pray for conversion of heart, citing the United States Bishops: “True justice and peace can be a matter of policy only if it is first a matter of the heart.”
“Let us pray for God’s grace”, they conclude the statement, “to open our eyes and those of our leaders, so that we will choose values and virtues that will help us to flourish/progress as a people.”
Trinidad and Tobago is home to people of Indian, African, European, and Middle Eastern descent. The islands obtained independence from the United Kingdom on 31 August 1962 and became a republic in 1976.
