“Today I would like to pray in particular for the population of the northern region of Nigeria, victim of violence and terrorist attacks.”
Those were the words Pope Francis used after praying the Angelus on Saturday, praying for and asking us to pray for our brothers and sisters in northern Nigeria.
On 8 August, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria issued a statement addressing the “increasing insecurity” and acts of violence in Northern Nigeria.
“We continue to hear of increasing insecurity and unabated acts of terrorism in Northern Nigeria. We are all tired of this situation,” said the Bishops’ statement.
Using the word “massacre” to describe the violence in Southern Kaduna, the Bishops said the “killings must stop.”
Violence on the rise
In June 76 people were killed in an attack on Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State. Five humanitarian aid workers were violently murdered in July by Boko Haram militants after having been abducted in Borno State in June. At least three attacks attributed to the Fulani militia took place in Southern Kaduna in July alone.
On 5 August, at least thirty-three persons, mostly women and children, were killed by unknown gunmen in an attack on five Atyap chiefdom villages in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The State government recently imposed a curfew in the area due to the rising tensions.
Appeal to the government and for prayers
The Nigerian bishops appealed to the country’s government of their campaign promises to end corruption, guarantee safety of persons and property and to stimulate the economy. .
In addition, the Bishops turn to all Catholics that we join in prayer, praying praying one Our Father, three Hail Marys and one Glory Be to the Father “every day after the Angelus for forty days.”
This joint prayer will start from 22 August through to 30 September 2020 – the eve of Nigeria’s Independence Day anniversary. On 1 October (Nigeria’s Independence Day), the faithful are to pray the five decades of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary “for God to save Nigeria.”
Pope Francis on Saturday invited Christians to thank and praise God for the good that He has done in our life just as the Virgin did in the Magnificat, which became the source of her joy.
Pope Francis made the exhortation at the midday “Angelus” prayer in Rome’s St. Peter’s Square, on the day the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary into heaven.
The dogma of faith that Pope Pius XII proclaimed on November 1, 1950, asserts that the Virgin Mary “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory”. Pope Francis said that the Assumption shines “as a sign of sure hope and solace to the People of God during its sojourn on earth”, as the Second Vatican Council puts it.
Addressing a holiday crowd from the window of his studio overlooking the square, the Pope said in Mary’s Assumption into Heaven, we celebrate an infinitely greater conquest than the “giant step for mankind” when man first set foot on the moon. When the lowly Virgin of Nazareth set foot in paradise, body and spirit, he said, it was “the huge leap forward for humanity”.
This, the Pope said, gives us hope that “we are precious, destined to rise again”. “God does not allow our bodies to vanish into nothing. With God, nothing is lost!”
Mary’s lowliness magnifies God goodness
Mary’s advice to us, the Holy Father said, lies in her song, the “Magnificat” – “My soul magnifies the Lord”. “Mary ‘aggrandizes’ the Lord: not problems, which she did not lack at the time,” the Pope explained. She does not allow herself to be “overwhelmed by difficulties and absorbed by fears”. Rather, she puts God as the first greatness of life, which becomes the source of her Magnificat. Her joy is born “not from the absence of problems, which come sooner or later, but from God’s presence”, because He is great and he looks on the lowly ones. “We,” the Pope stressed, “are the weakness of His love.”
Mary, the Pope continued, acknowledges that she is small and exalts the “great things” that the Lord has done for her. She is grateful for the gift of life, she is a virgin yet she becomes pregnant, and Elizabeth, too, who was elderly, is expecting a child. The Pope said, “the Lord works wonders with those who are lowly …, who give ample space to God in their life”, for which Mary praises God.
Forgetting the good shrinks the heart
Pope Francis thus invited all to ask ourselves, whether we, like Mary, praise and thank God for the good things He does for us, for His love, forgiveness, tenderness and for giving us His Mother and our brothers and sisters.
“If we forget the good,” the Pope warned, “the heart shrinks.” “But if, like Mary, we remember the great things that the Lord does, if at least once a day we were to “magnify” Him, then we would take a great step forward,” the Pope concluded, adding, our hearts will expand and our joy will increase.
On Saturday evening, to the applause of the faithful, Archbishop Fabio Dal Cin, Pontifical Delegate to the Shrine at Loreto announced the Pope’s decision to extend the Lauretan Jubilee until 10 December 2021. The Jubilee was granted on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the proclamation by Pope Benedict XV of Our Lady of Loreto, Patroness of all airmen.
Imparting the news from the Shrine of the Holy House, the Archbishop said, “In this difficult time for mankind, Holy Mother Church gives us another twelve months to start anew with Christ, letting us be accompanied by Mary, a sign of consolation and sure hope for all”.
The Jubilee was officially inaugurated on 8December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, with the opening of the Holy Door presided over by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, but “unfortunately not celebrated in all its entirety because of the Covid-19 epidemic”.
Apostolic Decree
An Apostolic Decree issued on July 16 by the Apostolic Penitentiary states that there will be for another twelve months to experience grace and forgiveness for all the faithful who visit the Pontifical Shrine. Grace which also extends to the many chapels of the civil airports and air force bases around the world.
The decree co-signed by Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, Major Penitentiary and Regent Father Krzysztof Józef Nykiel also states that “the faithful will draw from the generous extension good intentions and spiritual vigor to be implemented in life according to the law of the Gospel”.
“Fear runs down the spine of many of our people today. The crackdown on dissent is unprecedented. Is this the Zimbabwe we want? To have a different opinion does not mean to be an enemy. It is precisely from the contrast of opinion that the light comes. Our government automatically labels anyone thinking differently as an enemy of the country: that is an abuse,” said the Bishops in a Pastoral Letter released Friday. The letter is signed by all the country’s Catholic Bishops.
Suppression of people’s anger leads to a profound crisis
The Bishops add, “The call for demonstrations is the expression of growing frustration and aggravation caused by the conditions that the majority of Zimbabweans find themselves in. Suppression of people’s anger can only serve to deepen the crisis and take the nation into deeper crisis.”
The Government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa has widely been criticised for human rights abuses that have seen the country’s police and military unleashed on activists, journalists as well as the public. Several observers, such as Amnesty International, -all paint a climate of fear and brutal repression; forced disappearances, arrests, street abductions, and torture of the government’s critics.
#ZimbabweanLivesMatter
The government’s crackdown on peaceful protests has given rise to the hashtag, #ZimbabweanLivesMatter, inspired no doubt by the global movement, #BlackLivesMatter.
Among those still detained, in Zimbabwe, are Hopewell Chin’ono, an awarding-winning journalist. Also, in detention together with many others is Jacob Ngarivhume, leader of Transform Zimbabwe. The two high profile detainees have been charged with inciting public protests and violence.
Lawyers from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said detainees were being held in inhuman prison conditions.
Earlier, Zimbabwean President Mnangagwa, appeared to rebuff South Africa’s attempts to mediate and help ease the country’s crisis. Zimbabwe’s Catholic Bishops describe the failure of South Africa’s emissaries to meet with Church and civil society as regrettable and probably an opportunity missed.
A leadership that blames everyone but itself
According to the Bishops, the country’s political leadership needs to take full responsibility and stop blaming others for the country’s misfortunes.
“It is not clear to us as your Bishops that the national leadership we have has the knowledge, social skills, emotional stability and social orientation to handle the issues that we face as a nation. All we hear from them is blame of our woes on foreigners, colonialism, white settlers, and the so-called internal detractors. When are we going to take responsibility? While our neighbours in the region are strengthening their democratic institutions, we seem to be weakening ours,” reads the Pastoral Letter, in part.
During COVID-19, where does a nation turn to?
“In the face of growing numbers of COVID-19 infections, where does the nation turn to? With the necessary tools in short supply in our hospitals, we notice with wounded hearts, that government officials seem to have more PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) than our nurses and doctors,” observe the Bishops.
The march is never ended
“We make an urgent plea to peace and national building through inclusive engagement, dialogue and collective responsibility for transformation. We are also conscious that the COVID-19 pandemic will expose us to new challenges for the foreseeable future. Indeed, as John Lewis (the African American politician and civil rights leader) realised, the march is never ended, but together we will overcome,” said the Zimbabwe prelates.
Over the past few months’ people around the world have had to adapt to a different way of living, working and also praying due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
But it hasn’t stopped the four-day annual French National Pilgrimage to Lourdes getting underway.
On Wednesday, the 147th edition of the pilgrimage began with Holy Mass in the Church of St Bernadette.
The event, which is organised by the Congregation of the Assumptionists, runs from the 12-16 August and has as its theme: “Going to the Source of Love”.
Although the pilgrimage is going ahead, this edition will not see the vast crowds of previous years due to social distancing restrictions.
Fr Vincent Cabanac is director of the French National Pilgrimage. He explained that despite the difficulties regarding the pandemic, this year’s pilgrimage is a “rendezvous” they wanted to maintain.
This year, there will be a delegation of just 500 pilgrims who will be present at the event. But other pilgrims will be able to follow all the main events online, and those who are sick will also be able to be part of the pilgrimage via radio and television.
We don’t want the sick to “feel alone”, said the National Director, and that is why there will be this digital connection from them to the Sanctuary.
Although COVID-19 has changed the format of this gathering, there is still a rich array of events over the course of the four days. The programme includes the recitation of the Rosary, concerts, processions, vigils and testimonies.
Listen to the interview
Restrictions in place
For health reasons, and to respect physical and social distancing, bathing is not possible at the Sanctuary at present.But Fr Cabanac points out that in a symbolic gesture, people will be able to come to the baths and will be able to wash their face and hands.
Visit of Cardinal Parolin
At the invitation of the organizers of the national pilgrimage, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin is visiting the Shrine at Lourdes to preside over Mass for the Feast of the Assumption on August 15.
He had been invited to the shrine before the coronavirus outbreak.
This is the Cardinal’s third visit to Lourdes since become Vatican Secretary of State. In 2017 he visited the Shrine as Pope Francis’ representative for the World Day of the Sick; and in 2018 for the St Francis de Sales Days.
Speaking about Cardinal Parolin’s presence at Lourdes, Fr Cabanac said, “It is a very important sign for us that the Cardinal visits.” With his presence he is giving an expression of encouragement that is faithful and humble.
“The Cardinal,” said the Assumptionist Priest, “is giving a strong message of prayer not only for France but for the world, presenting his intention here in the Grotto of Massabielle and this visit will be very important for us, for France and for the Church.”
Ruth Tindyebwa, a market vendor in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, was badly affected by the government’s lockdown measures, imposed on March 22. Much of her custom came from people walking past her stall on the way to work. After the restrictions were put into place, this source of income dried up. Things have now turned around, however, thanks to a project set up by the UN, in collaboration with a local company called Safeboda.
Safeboda promises users a safer option than the usual “bodabodas”, the motorcycle taxis, often unlicenced, that weave their way through the streets of Uganda and other east African countries.
The company operates in a way that is familiar to users of well-known taxi-hailing platforms, such as Uber or Lyft: users download an app, enter their destination and see the estimated cost of their ride. The company offers assurances that the drivers will be safe, well-trained and professional.
After the Ugandan government enacted its lockdown measures, the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), responded by launching its partnership with Safeboda, creating a new e-commerce platform that connects market vendors to customers.
Orders for produce are placed via the Safeboda app, and paid for, using its mobile wallet feature. The company’s accredited riders then deliver the produce.
The result has been a boost in trade for hundreds of market vendors, regular income for the bodaboda drivers, and a safe way for customers to receive the goods.
Ms. Tindyebwa was one of the first market vendors to sign up to the project: her daily sales are now even higher than they were before lockdown. “The most amazing part is that I can save for my children’s school fees on my e-wallet as I wait for the schools to reopen after this lockdown,” she says.
‘E-commerce has come and it will never go away’
UNCDF
A market vendor uses the SafeBoda app which connects vendors to households using the SafeBoda transport service during the COVID-19 lockdown in Kampala, Uganda.
The Safeboda scheme is not the only partnership launched by the UN in Uganda. In May, the UN Development Programme, UNDP, joined forces with Jumia Foods, the country’s largest e-commerce company, to create an online platform specifically designed to connect some of the most vulnerable members of the workforce with potential customers.
The initiative is designed to empower those hit hardest in the informal trade sector, and more than 60 per cent of those who have signed up for it are women, young people, and persons with disabilities.
It also helps to connect farmers, keeping alive the flow of products from rural areas to urban markets. As part of the support, UNDP is providing sellers more than 3,000 vendors in five Kampala markets, with smartphones, airtime, and data packages.
At the launch of the partnership in May, Amelia Kyambadde, Uganda’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, declared that she expects it to promote the growth of online commerce. “One of the lessons we have learnt is that e-commerce has come, and it will never go away”, she said.
Elsie Attafuah, the UNDP Resident Representative in Uganda, was equally upbeat, describing the partnership with Jumia as a “safe, convenient and fast service to the citizens of Uganda”, which will boost trade.
“COVID-19 presents not only a health but also a humanitarian and development crisis that is threatening to leave deep social, economic and political scars for years. It is, therefore, important to expand e-commerce to enable business continuity, support livelihoods and enable early recovery from the pandemic”, she added.
Innovating a way out of crisis
One of the aims of such partnerships, is to demonstrate the many benefits of digital services to small businesses and consumers, and encourage further digital innovation, leading to sustainable growth in the Ugandan economy.
In many other ways, the UN is working closely with Ugandan government to turn things around, by using digital tools.
Vendors chatting at a vegetable stand in a marketplace in Kampala, Uganda., by Arne Hoel/World Bank
The UN Safeboda and Jumia schemes are just two examples of the ways in which online commerce can help to kickstart, in a sustainable way that benefits all, the Ugandan economy. Like so many other countries around the world, Uganda is struggling to cope with the devastating effects of the economic crisis brought about by COVID-19.
The World Bank estimates that real GDP growth this year will be less than 2 per cent, compared with almost 5.6 per cent in 2019.
The UN agency for trade, UNCTAD, has made several recommendations, on how to improve the supply of digital services in Uganda, and UNDP is supporting the government in its development of an e-commerce strategy, which has seen new laws have been passed, aimed at improving people’s trust in online transactions.
E-commerce has been identified by the UN as a powerful way to drive growth, boost trade and create jobs, but many developing countries are still lagging behind in this area.
Through initiatives such as UNCTAD’s e-trade for all platform, which aims to coordinate the efforts of NGOs, foundations, and others, to harness the potential of the internet for economic development, it is hoped that the progress seen in Uganda can be replicated elsewhere, as governments attempt to navigate their way out of this unprecedented global crisis.
Following the announcement that authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko – who has ruled since 1994 – had a landslide victory in Sunday’s presidential election, largely peaceful protests erupted throughout country, prompting a heavy crackdown by the security forces.
Later, women holding flowers dressed in white formed human chains throughout the capital of Minsk and other cities, protesting police brutality.
The UN chief said that Belarusians must be permitted to express their views peacefully “in accordance with the law” and that the authorities must “show restraint in responding to demonstrations”.
Moreover, he upheld that “allegations of torture and other mistreatment of people under detention must be thoroughly investigated”.
The Secretary-General concluded by calling on Belarusians to “address post-election grievances through dialogue to preserve peace in the country”.
Human rights censures
Throughout the week, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has castigated the Belarusian authorities for unwarranted aggressions.
Yesterday, five independent UN human rights experts sharply criticized the level of violence that security forces across the country were using against demonstrators and journalists, following five days of protesting over the disputed election.
And on Wednesday, the UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, condemned the authorities’ violence, remindingthe authorities that “the use of force during protests should always be exceptional and a measure of last resort”.
On September 27, the Church will mark the 106th World Day of Migrants and Refugees.
The first observance of the Day was in 1914, just a few months before the outbreak of World War I, when Pope St Pius X called on all Christians to pray for migrants. In 2005, Pope St John Paul II announced that the World Day would be celebrated throughout the Church on the second Sunday after Epiphany; in 2018, at the request of various Bishops’ conferences, Pope Francis moved the celebration to the last Sunday in September.
In his Message for this year’s commemoration, Pope Francis writes, “God did not want the resources of our planet to benefit only a few. This was not the Lord’s will! We have to learn to share in order to grow together, leaving no one behind.”
This week, the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development has published its fourth video in a communications campaign to help spread Pope Francis’ message.
In the video, Eric Estrada Buenaño tells about his experience as an internally displaced person in Venezuela.
“I became a displaced person for several reasons,” he explains: “lack of drinking water and domestic gas, and insecurity.” He notes, too, that his home state “is remote and has always had problems with guerillas, lawlessness, organized crime and kidnappings.”
Like a second family
Eric has found a home with a new family, who have given him a place to live, shared their food, and helped him find work. “They are like a second family to me,” he says, “and [they] have assisted me enormously.”
“They have helped me grow in faith,” he adds.
Sharing makes us more human
Drawing on his own experience, Eric says, “There are people who need our help. Sharing makes us more human, strengthens our faith in God, and makes us feel like His children.”
But sharing, he says, is about more than simply sharing material resources: “It is also about sharing our life experience, our joys, love, a word of encouragement.”
“Everything that we can give will do good; somehow, it will help someone,” Eric insists.
This is a major breakthrough for Israel, but also a foreign policy victory for President Donald Trump who is now focused on the upcoming US elections in November.
“Now that the ice has been broken I expect more Arab and Muslim countries will follow the United Arab Emirates,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
It is the first Israeli-Arab peace agreement since Israel and Jordan signed a treaty back in 1994.
Under its terms, Israel and the United Arab Emirates will exchange ambassadors and embassies, and set up air, technology, communications, shipping and other links.
An important point came with the revelation that Israel had agreed to suspend plans to annex part of the West Bank, an issue which had fractured hopes of any peace deal with the Palestinians.
New era in relations
Speaking in Jerusalem, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Today, a new era began in the relations of the state of Israel with the Arab world.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, said he was “gratified by today’s announcement”.
The Greek foreign minister, Nikos Dendias, was scheduled to meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday to seek Washington’s support in its struggle against Turkey’s oil exploration efforts off the coast of Crete.
Athens already has the fervent backing of France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, plus Israel and Egypt.
Officials in Athens on Friday hailed the establishment of diplomatic ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates as boosting the Greek position.
Greek naval units also continued to shadow a Turkish oil-prospecting ship, the Oruc Reis, in the East Mediterranean, west of Cyprus.
Athens claims the ship is infringing on Greece’s maritime economic zone, which it negotiated with Egypt just last week.
Greece’s Defense Ministry denied claims that a Greek frigate was damaged in a vaguely-defined incident at sea. Turkish frigates are escorting the Oruc Reis, raising the potential for a clash.
The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has warned that Greece will not cede an inch of its maritime economic space. He says the Oruc Reis is in clear defiance of International maritime law.
Diplomatic front
Greek and French naval and air units have been war-gaming in the region over the past few days.
So far, Greece has been fighting purely on the diplomatic front. But whether the tussle with Turkey over seabed resources will result in actual shooting is impossible to predict at this point.
