MOTIBASTI, Nepal — With many migrant workers returning home amid the pandemic, the Baha’i Local Spiritual Assembly of Motibasti, Nepal, is looking at what it can do to enhance the community’s capacity to produce its own food.
“There are now many NGOs and agencies that are helping people with their immediate needs,” said Hemant Prakash Budha, member of the Local Spiritual Assembly. “But the Assembly realizes that it can think about long-term solutions. This village has the land and the skills to produce food. But how can we manage if we don’t organize our agricultural efforts as a community?”
The Local Spiritual Assembly has been consulting weekly since the start of the pandemic to help identify and meet the needs of the community. Recently, it has been connecting returning migrant workers with opportunities to farm uncultivated plots belonging to area residents.
“Our attitude is not one of dependence, where some people have everything and others are lacking” says Prasad Acharya, a resident of Motibasti. “We see how all can contribute to the community. This is an aspect of the Baha’i principle of the oneness of humanity: that all are one family and all prioritize for the needs of others.”
Drawing on local knowledge and expert advice, the Assembly has assisted families to determine which crops and livestock will provide the best sources of nutrition for the village.
The Assembly has been resourceful in helping the community to overcome obstacles. For example, when one part of the village found that it lacked water for irrigation, the Assembly sought assistance from local and regional officials who arranged for a well to be drilled.
Mr. Prakash Budha, reflecting on these experiences, states: “The community is concerned about a potential food crisis, the increasing price of goods, and other issues such as children’s education. When people consult in a spiritual way—lovingly and kindly—they start to become aware of the opportunities before them and how they can move forward. Consultation creates the hope that you can take action and change things.”
Lending a hand to the community in need in the heart of Central Europe
In the middle of the after-pandemic-crisis when the lockdown and restrictions were released or lessened in most countries of Europe, volunteers have continued to help those in need in Hungary.
The current pandemic brought about a new kind of catastrophe which touched many lives all around the world. Apart from the virus itself and its risk of infection, many suffered the economical effects of it. Large families, single parents, or elderly, got touched by the restrictions. Some even suddenly lost their job without being prepared.
This spring, Hungarian Scientology volunteer ministers responded super-fast to the scene of disarrangement caused by the spread of the Coronavirus. They quickly assessed what was needed and wanted.
According to Timea Vojtilla, who is currently leading the actions of the volunteer Scientologists in Hungary said to The Social News in EU that “Scientology Volunteer Ministers are well known to jump in and offer their help in all kind of catastrophic situations such as earthquakes, tsunami, forest fires, etc. bringing order and spiritual relief to those who were harmed and to help them to take up their lives again. Our motto is “SOMETHING CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT.”
First, they saw that hospital workers got suddenly burdened. They went into communication with the hospital that had been set up for the central handling of Covid-19 in Budapest to find out what their workers would need most. Answering the request, Hungarian Scientology Volunteer Ministers then provided the hospital with 300 kilos of fresh fruits, refreshments, and snacks to distribute to the nurses, doctors, and other hospital workers.
The following week they called the Hungarian Red Cross, which is one of the oldest and best-known charity organizations in Hungary, to learn what help would be most needed. As a result, they collected and donated non-perishable food to two offices of Hungarian Red Cross which then distributed these to families and elderly in need.
As in many other European countries, it became more and more visible, that for those who lost their jobs because of Covid-19, even if only through temporary unemployment, the future became harder and harder to predict. More and more people turned to charity organizations asking for help, especially those who had no or very small savings.
Scientologists gathered more donations and provided an average of 1 to 1.5 tons each time of durable food to different charity organizations, and as the word of mouth was running, they received more requests for help from all parts of Hungary and different parts of society.
Vojtilla said “We are going out every week, sometimes more than once, trying to fulfill the requested help as much as we can, helping with the most basic vital factor of living: food!”
Donations have included not only basic food for cooking such as flower, sugar, salt, pasta, canned food, oil, etc., but also fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, cheese, milk, sausages, and, thinking about children, also cacao, pudding, chocolates and different snacks.
The VMs, as they call themselves, or the yellow t-shirts as they are more and more known contributed to support different other religions knowing that churches were always anchors of spiritual support in troubled times.
As a catholic priest stated, after receiving a ton of food donations from the volunteer ministers, his “little countryside chapel had always been a shelter in its 100’s of years of past existence, even in past pandemics” and that he “was glad to receive donations from Scientologists, and happily distributed the food to all who needed it in my town, regardless of their religion or conviction”. The priest reported that he saw “tears in some people’s eyes when they received this help in these difficult times. Churches joining forces to provide solace in times of need are a basic need”.
“I was glad to receive donations from Scientologists, and happily distributed the food to all who needed it in my town, regardless of their religion or conviction”
A Catholic priest
Timea Vojtilla, spokesperson of the Hungarian Scientologist community and the main organizer of all those actions said: “We love to help others! And probably the most precious part of it is the teamwork when we can join forces with others! We are so much stronger together! Giving a hand to those who are harmed is an honor. I am very happy to see how many people were joining forces in this Covid-19 confusion and did not let others down. The Covid19 has not discriminated against one religion or another, an ethnicity or another, so our VMs have also been helping in Bodvalenke at a gypsy village famous for its wall´s fresco, an orphanage in Transilvania, and a children’s home in Budapest spreading a smile to the children with balloons and chocolate”.
On 25 June 2020, EASPD and the entire social services sector came together at European level to call the European Union to strengthen recognition, urgency and resilience in social services during the COVID-19 pandemic and the recovery. The Online Summit was also the opportunity for the sector to engage with high level European policy and thought leaders: the Vice President of the European Parliament Dimitrios Papadimoulis, the Vice President of the European Commission Dubravka Šuica, Member of European Parliament Dragoş Pîslaru and University Professor Frank Vandenbroucke.
Yesterday, the European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) and 11 partners representing different dimensions to the social services sector at European level organized the Online Summit “Social Services & COVID19: what role for EU?,” viewed by over 2,000 people across different platforms.
Social Services is a sector employing over 11 million professionals, primarily in not-for-profit or public services, who provide care and support to millions of people with disabilities, older persons, children, people at risk of poverty and exclusion and many more.
In his welcoming remarks, the Vice President of the European Parliament, Dimitrios Papadimoulis highlighted the Parliament’s concern that COVID19 has exposed long-standing problems in care provision in the European Union and highlighted the possibility that the Recovery Plan for Europe, currently under negotiation, may make tens of billions of euros available for funding such initiatives.
The Vice President of the European Commission, Dubravka Suica, stated that “social services are under particular strain and the European Commission is committed to help”; listing their ongoing exchanges on how to best support the sector and the actions the European Union is taking in response to COVID19, including the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative.
Professor Frank Vandenbroucke from the University of Amsterdam referred to how well organized social policy is an investment into the resilience of our societies and expressed how COVID is a stress test for social services, but also for the real significance of the European Pillar of Social Rights, agreed in 2017.
Speaking on behalf of a support provider for children with disabilities in Bulgaria, Maya Doneva, CEO of Karin Dom, argued that “as someone who is in charge of a local service provider, I would like the European institutions to show more guarantees and commitment that social services are essential to the EU”.
Dragos Pislaru, Member of the European Parliament expressed his belief that social services are the real heroes in the fight against COVID19 but also called more to be done to improve their resilience. MEP Pislaru referred to the €560 billion proposed by the European Commission in the Resilience and Recovery Facility as an extremely useful instrument to generate the social reforms needed, included to designate social services as essential.
Heather Roy, Secretary General of Eurodiaconia, expressed concerns that we have on the one hand a commitment to support social services by the European Union, yet also reduced or no additional funding in the main policy funds that the EU sees as relevant for social services; referring to the proposed cuts to European Social Fund+ in the next framework.
Presenting the recently agreed joint position by the entire social services sector, EASPD Secretary General, Luk Zelderloo, said “The message from the sector is crystal clear: we need the European Union to strengthen the recognition, take urgent action and invest in resilience in social services. Alongside national and regional authorities, the EU must demonstrate real commitment and ensure its policies actually reach social service providers across the continent”.
Rome Newsroom, Jun 26, 2020 / 08:30 am MT (CNA).- Scientists confirmed this month that a crucifix in the Italian city of Lucca is the oldest wooden statue in Europe.
A radiocarbon dating study conducted by the National Institute for Nuclear Physics in Florence dated the 8-foot wooden crucifix to between 770 to 880 AD.
The study was commissioned by the Cathedral of Lucca to coincide with the 950-year anniversary of the cathedral’s consecration, which took place in the late 12th century.
Devotion to the crucifix, known as the “Holy Face of Lucca,” spread throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, as pilgrims stopped in the walled Tuscan city on their way along the Via Francigena pilgrimage route from Canterbury to Rome.
Dante mentions the Holy Face of Lucca in his “Inferno,” and English King William II took a solemn vow in the name of the Holy Face in 1087.
The scientific study confirmed the local Catholic tradition based on a historical document stating that the crucifix arrived in Lucca in the late 8th century, according to the Archdiocese of Lucca. However, it does not lend evidence to the legend that it was carved from life by Nicodemus, a contemporary of Christ.
“For centuries much has been written of the Holy Face, but always in terms of faith and piety,” Annamaria Giusti, scientific consultant for the Lucca Cathedral, said in a statement issued by the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics.
“Only in the 20th century did a large critical debate begin around its dating and style. The prevailing opinion was that it was a work to be dated in the second half of the 12th century. Finally the assessment of this antique has closed this age-old controversial problem,” Giusti said.
“We can now consider [it] the oldest wooden statue in the West that has been passed down to us.”
In the carbon-14 study, three samples of the wood were taken from different parts of the crucifix and one of the linen fabric to be evaluated. Each piece dated to between the last decades of the eighth century and beginning of the ninth century.
Archbishop Paolo Giulietti of Lucca hailed the study’s results as a timely “message of salvation that comes from Jesus of Nazareth, crucified for love and risen in the power of God.”
“The Holy Face is not only one of the many crucifixes within our Italy and our Europe,” he said. “It is … a ‘living memory’ of the crucified and risen Christ.”
“It is a memorial that has its origins in antiquity, as today’s announcement confirms for us, and that has left indelible traces in the culture, spirituality of Lucca and the entire continent.”
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Cathedral of Lucca has postponed planned events celebrating its 950 year anniversary to the fall. It is unclear whether the city’s annual September 13 candlelight procession honoring the Holy Face will take place this year as many similar processions in Italy have been cancelled.
The at least 1,140-year-old crucifix can be viewed inside of the Lucca Cathedral of St. Martin.
EURONEWS – Liverpool have been crowned Premier League champions, winning their first domestic league title in 30 years.
Celebrations lasted late into the evening with red smoke engulfing the sky near Anfield Stadium despite limits on gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The victory comes after Manchester City, ranked second in the league, lost to Chelsea 2-1, leaving Liverpool 23 points ahead.
Liverpool have seven games left in the league, making them the earliest title winners in terms of matches.
But they’re also the latest title winners after the season was delayed for over three months due to the ongoing pandemic.
“I have no words, it’s unbelievable. It’s much more than I ever thought would be possible. Becoming champion with this club is absolutely incredible,” said the club’s German manager Jürgen Klopp in an emotional reaction to the win.
The 2019/2020 season just restarted last week with games played in empty stadiums, broadcast only on television. Coronavirus testing is conducted twice weekly in order for the season to continue.
“It’s a relief because of the 3-month interruption,” Klopp added. He and the players were able to watch the game together.
But Liverpool fought hard, winning against every single team they faced this season.
Klopp took over the team in October 2015 in what was called a new era for it. Last year, Liverpool won their sixth Champions League title.
The last time Liverpool were English champions was after the 1989/1990 season.
The members of Europe’s socialist and democratic family call on the European Council to endorse the Commission’s “Next Generation EU” plan, and adopt documents on fighting racism and on affordable healthcare
Meeting by videoconference, the PES Presidency today adopted a declaration calling for an ambitious Recovery Fund so the EU can overcome the COVID-19 crisis and move towards a green, social, digital, gender-equal, inclusive and sustainable future.
After the Declaration was adopted, PES President Sergei Stanishev said:
“Three months ago, no one would have expected that this pandemic would become the biggest stress test of European societies in decades. It is the duty of Europe’s leaders to live up to this historic moment, to do their duty and to act together and set the recovery in motion.
“Socialists and democrats want to see the recovery in action, and fast. Our member states cannot afford to wait. The European Council must back the recovery plan at its next meeting. Further delay will be damaging for the citizens, businesses and communities which have been hit hard.
“Our political family is clear: the recovery must pave the way for a fairer and more sustainable society. We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of 2008. Our societies will not survive further rounds of austerity. We need a proper recovery which protect jobs and moves us towards a carbon-free, digital, democratic and gender equal future.”
Alongside a fair and sustainable recovery, affordable and quality healthcare for all and the fight against racism were also on the agenda of today’s PES Presidency meeting.
CNA Staff, Jun 25, 2020 / 05:41 pm MT (CNA).- According to a scholar of comparative religion, Christians in Turkey are being persecuted by the Turkish government, in part to distract attention from its recent setbacks in foreign policy.
Alexander Görlach, a senior fellow with the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, said that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan needs a distraction from his failures, and Christians can provide just that.
“While the world is busy fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, dealing with mass unemployment and a global recession, the Turkish government is taking advantage of the situation to further pressure minorities,” Görlach said in a June 23 opinion piece for Deutsche Welle, a German public broadcaster.
His assessment of the plight of Turkish Christians, one of the oldest populations of Christians in the world, comes after years of systemic discimination against minorities. Minorities make up 0.2% of the Turkish population, according to the 2020 United States Commission on International Religious Freedom report on Turkey. The vast majority of the population, including Erdogan, are Sunni Muslims.
Although the Turkish constitution “guarantees the freedom of conscience, religious belief, and conviction” and designates the country a “secular state,” according to USCIRF Erdogan’s administration uses an Islamic nationist rhetoric to discriminate against minorities.
Contrary to Turkey’s claim to a secular status, the government includes both the Directorate of Religious Affairs, which supervises Muslim practices in the country, and the General Directorate of Foundations, which manages the activities of minority religious groups.
Precipitating the USCIRF designation of Turkey to the “Special Watch List” for offenses against religious freedom, the Turkish government barred the elections of non-Muslim groups from taking place, leaving some religious groups without leaders.
One such group, the Armenian Apostolic Church, was left without a functioning Patriarch of Constantinople for 11 years while the government blocked their elections, according to the USCIRF report.
Religious rights groups were also alarmed when officials arrested Fr. Sefer Bileçen, a Syriac Orthodox priest, on terrorism charges after he gave bread and water to members of an illegal Kurdish separatist group, in January. Although the priest said that he felt it was his Christian duty to help those who come to the monastery door, he faced charges of “helping and abetting” terrorists, and at least seven and a half years in prison.
In addition, the Turkish government has appropriated many Chirstians’ land after they fled from the area during the recent Turkish military offensive. As they return, they find that they have nowhere to settle.
Turkish leaders said that Turkey’s designation to the USCIRF Special Watch List is unwarranted.
Hami Aksoy, a spokesperson for the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, claimed that the designation itself reveals an anti-Muslim bias underlying USCIRF.
“The report contains baseless, unaccredited and vague allegations as in the past years while trying to portray isolated incidents as violations of religious freedoms through far-fetched accusations,” Aksoy said. “It is clear that the Commission, which has been accused of being anti-Muslim in the past, has drawn up this report based on its unwarranted agenda and priorities under the influence of circles that are hostile to Turkey, rather than objective criteria.”
When the United States retreated from Syria in 2019, Christians in the Middle East feared threats from Turkey.
“We are gravely concerned regarding the recent draw down of the U.S. presence in Iraq,” Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Ebril said. He was one of the leading voices on behalf of displaced Christians in the Middle East. Without the U.S. presence in Iraq, he and many others feared persecution by Islamic nationalist groups.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence was confident that even without the U.S. presence in Iraq, the U.S. would be able to continue to protect religious minorities in the Middle East.
“The United States will work hand in hand from this day forward with faith-based groups and private organizations to help those who are persecuted for their faith. This is the moment, now is the time, and America will support these people in their hour of need,” Pence said.
Görlach, who wrote the opinion piece detailing the threat that the Turkish government poses to Christians, is not so confident.
“Step by step, using a nationalist and Islamic rhetoric, Turkey’s Christians are becoming a welcome scapegoat for Ankara,” said Görlach. “Erdogan has miscalculated on various fronts in Syria and Libya, and is now looking for someone to serve as a distraction.”
EU FoRB Day – A call for the renewal of the mandate of the Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief outside of the European Union
By CSW’s Europe Liason Officer Alessandro Pecorari
Seven years ago, the EU Guidelines on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) were adopted by the Foreign Affairs Council. Today, the FoRB community celebrates this informally as ‘EU FoRB Day’ and civil society take this opportunity to call for the renewal of the mandate of the Special Envoy.
This past April came and went with no decision by the Commission on the future of the mandate of the Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) outside the EU, which ended on 30 November 2019.
In January 2019, one of the last resolutions by the last EU Parliament was to lend its support to the renewal. The COVID-19 crisis notwithstanding, the Commission’s hesitation despite letters by MEPs and civil society calling for the renewal of the mandate, sends a signal to Europeans and the international community about its reticence to continue to promote this fundamental right.
Freedom of religion or belief is enshrined in Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It protects the right of individuals to practise the religion or belief of their choice, or none at all – a freedom which is under threat in many parts of the world.
Against this backdrop, the Special Envoy role matters a great deal.
The mandate has had time to show that it is an effective tool in the EU’s diplomatic arsenal. On this very day in 2013 the EU Member States approved the ‘EU Guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief’ which provide the policy framework for the Special Envoy’s mandate and are essential tools promoting FoRB in the EU’s external relations and in the EU’s international cooperation and development.
Dr Figel has supported the implementation of these Guidelines, making 17 official country visits to a wide range of countries. Whilst in country, the Envoy would regularly engage with national authorities and institutions, civil society, human rights organisations, as well as religious leaders and communities.
Moreover, the Special Envoy has illustrated to governments how FoRB can be promoted and protected effectively through the EU’s external action, for example, Asia Bibi, who spent years on death row in Pakistan on unfounded charges of blasphemy, acknowledged the role of the Special Envoy in securing her freedom in her first public appearance following her release. Likewise, Czech national Petr Jašek, who was jailed alongside two Sudanese pastors, also acknowledged Dr Figel’s role in securing his freedom.
Key to such success is the manner in which the EU Special Envoy is viewed as a neutral broker by many countries, which in turn has been critical in fostering dialogue among opposing actors. As a result, the European Commission had sent a strong signal to all international and multi-lateral partners about the efficacy and concrete results the Special Envoy yields for the EU and the wider international human rights-based approach. Not renewing the mandate would send mixed messages and forgo four years of constructive work.
Today, as the FoRB community commemorates the seven-year anniversary of the EU Guidelines on FoRB, the EU should honour this fruitful diplomatic post by renewing the mandate; it owes it to itself, Member States and to its founding fathers, whose principles of human dignity and common good are ever-relevant in the continual promotion of FoRB.
CHICAGO — A public statement from the Baha’i National Spiritual Assembly of the United States on racial prejudice and spiritual principles essential for progress toward peace released days ago has already stimulated critical reflection across the country.
The statement comes at a moment when recent tragedies and long history have intersected to bring anti-Black racism and other forms of prejudice to the forefront of public consciousness in the United States and across the world.
The message reads in part: “To create a just society begins with recognition of the fundamental truth that humanity is one. But it is not enough simply to believe this in our hearts. It creates the moral imperative to act, and to view all aspects of our personal, social, and institutional lives through the lens of justice. It implies a reordering of our society more profound than anything we have yet achieved. And it requires the participation of Americans of every race and background, for it is only through such inclusive participation that new moral and social directions can emerge.”
The statement was released on 19 June, a date traditionally dedicated to commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. Initially published in the Chicago Tribune, it has also appeared in dozens of other publications, reaching a wide range of people.
Youth across the country have been examining how the statement can assist them in their efforts to contribute to greater harmony and understanding among their fellow compatriots. Participants in a recent national forum on race unity drew on ideas from the statement to illuminate their discussions.
Slideshow 3 imagesPhotograph taken before the current health crisis. A message to the people of the United States written by the Baha’i National Spiritual Assembly spurs on a conversation on the elimination of racial prejudice in which the Baha’i community has long been engaged in many spaces.
The message voiced by the National Assembly is one of hope, speaking about what is required to address the root causes of racism: sustained and concerted effort guided by the recognition of the fundamental truth that the human family is one.
This view is informed by the experience of a national Baha’i community in which, since its inception at the turn of the 20th century, people of African and European descent and eventually of all origins have joined hands to labor towards the elimination of racial prejudice.
May Lample of the country’s Baha’i Office of Public Affairs says that this message addresses profound questions that people are raising. “Americans are asking who we are as a society. What do we believe, and what will we tolerate? How much longer will we allow suffering to continue before we take action to make substantive change?”
P.J. Andrews, also of the Office, says: “In the culture of ‘othering’ in which we’re embedded, diversity can be seen as a source of weakness. But in truth diversity is a source of wealth. Unity in diversity is something that strengthens us spiritually as a society.”
Slideshow 3 imagesPhotograph taken before the current health crisis. Participants at the Dialogue on Faith and Race gathering held by the Baha’i Office of Public Affairs in the United States.
Speaking about current circumstances, Anthony Vance, Director of the Office of Public Affairs, states: “It is remarkable that in just a short span of weeks, demands for racial justice have not only been strongly renewed but are made with a much broader base of support throughout the US population. With smart phones everywhere to record events, injustices that the Black community has spoken about for generations have become indisputable fact. Large segments of society have become conscious of this reality to a degree where inaction becomes untenable. In seizing this opportunity to act, Baha’is seek to undertake or expand activities, learn, think systematically, and, perhaps most importantly, persist over the long term to make a lasting advance toward justice and unity.”
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