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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Nov-24-2008
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Opus Prize awarded to woman who helps child victims of war in Burundi
SEATTLE (CNS) -- A Catholic woman who has provided a safe haven for child victims of ethnic strife in Burundi has received the $1 million Opus Prize, billed as the world's largest humanitarian award for social innovation. Marguerite "Maggy" Barankitse received the honor Nov. 18 from Jesuit-run Seattle University and the Opus Prize Foundation. She founded Maison Shalom in 1993 as a home for 25 children orphaned after a violent attack by ethnic Tutsis at the start of a 12-year civil war. Barankitse's organization has grown into a multiservice agency which runs 500 small houses where children are nurtured and supported so they can be reintegrated into loving families. Maison Shalom also recently opened a hospital. Seattle University and the foundation also announced two winners of $100,000 prizes: Michael Woodard, founder of Jubilee House Community and Center for the Development of Central America, and Krishnammal Jagannathan, founder of Land for Tillers' Freedom.
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WORLD
Vatican calls for greater vigilance over world's financial operations
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican said the current market crisis calls for a new international agreement to effectively monitor global financial operations and give poorer countries a greater voice in economic policies. In particular, steps are needed to curb the abuses of offshore financial institutions, which many see as one of the causes of the financial meltdown, said a statement drafted by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace It is important that solutions do not favor rich countries at the continuing expense of poorer countries, the Vatican said. "There is a need to avoid triggering a chain of mutual protectionism. Instead, cooperation should be strengthened regarding transparency and vigilance over the financial system," the statement said. Reported by Vatican Radio, the statement came in preparation for the U.N.-sponsored International Conference on Financing for Development, which was to take place Nov. 29-Dec. 2 in Doha, Qatar. The conference, to be attended by representatives of developed and developing countries, was expected to propose steps to respond to the current crisis.
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Pope prays for victims of 1932-33 Ukrainian famine
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI prayed for the victims of the 1932-33 "Great Famine" that left millions dead in Ukraine and other parts of the Soviet Union during a noon blessing Nov. 23. In an apparent reference to the Soviet policies of collectivization and food confiscation that provoked the famine, the pope condemned ideologically based governmental actions that violate basic human rights. He made the remarks as many Ukrainians were commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Holodomor, or "death by hunger," the name given to the famine that occurred in the Soviet Ukraine. Speaking in Ukrainian, the pope recalled that the famine under the Soviet regime of Josef Stalin caused millions to die of starvation. "I express the strong hope that no longer will any political order, in the name of an ideology, deny the rights of the human person and his freedom and dignity, and I assure my prayers for all the innocent victims of this tremendous tragedy," he said.
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Self-interest can lead the world to ruin, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Without the practice of Christian charity, the world today risks a disastrous fixation on personal self-interest, Pope Benedict XVI said during a noon blessing Nov. 23, the feast of Christ the King. Addressing pilgrims from his apartment window above St. Peter's Square, he said Christ made it clear that his kingdom, while not of this world, works within human history to bring about all that is good. "If we put into practice love for our neighbor, following the Gospel message, then we make space for the rule of God and his kingdom is realized among us. If instead everyone thinks only of his own interests, the world can only go to ruin," the pope said. Christians need to remember that the kingdom of God is not a question of honors and appearances, but of justice, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, he explained, saying God will welcome those who work daily to carry out his teachings, not the hypocrites who talk about Christ but fail to put his commandments into practice.
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Pope believes interreligious dialogue must consider cultural concerns
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Interreligious dialogue can and must be about the cultural consequences of one's faith, not about the basic fundamentals of one's religious convictions, Pope Benedict XVI said. True interreligious dialogue "is not possible without putting one's own faith in parentheses," he said in a forward to an upcoming book by an Italian politician. Instead, dialogue that discusses "the cultural consequences" of one's religious beliefs and allows for "mutual correction and reciprocal enrichment" is "possible and necessary," the pope wrote in a private letter to Marcello Pera, a philosophy professor, politician and former president of the Italian senate. Pera has now published the letter as a forward to his forthcoming book, "Why We Must Call Ourselves Christians." The undated letter detailed the pope's positive appraisal of and reaction to Pera's new book.
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Mideast peace requires religious freedom, pope tells Armenian leader
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Peace in the Middle East and religious freedom for all the region's inhabitants will not be achieved without respect for other religions and self-determination for the nations involved, Pope Benedict XVI said. Meeting the Lebanon-based Armenian Catholicos Aram of Cilicia Nov. 24, the pope said he prayed daily and held deep concern for the people of Lebanon and the Middle East. "How can we not be grieved by the tensions and conflicts which continue to frustrate all efforts to foster reconciliation and peace at every level of civil and political life in the region?" the pope asked at the end of a midday prayer service with the Armenian patriarch, nine of his bishops and about 50 of his faithful from Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Cyprus, Italy, the United States and Canada. "Only when the countries involved can determine their own destiny, and the various ethnic groups and religious communities accept and respect each other fully, will peace be built on the solid foundations of solidarity, justice and respect for the legitimate rights of individuals and peoples," the pope said.
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188 Japanese martyrs beatified at Mass in Nagasaki
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Christian martyrdom is the fullest expression of human freedom and reflects the supreme act of love, said a top Vatican official at a Mass beatifying 188 Japanese martyrs. "It is not the punishment or the torture that creates a martyr," but rather the fact the person suffered and died for Christ, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, former prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Saints' Causes, said during the beatification Mass in Nagasaki, Japan, Nov. 24. The 188 17th-century Japanese martyrs were tortured and killed in different cities between 1606 and 1639 after the Japanese government outlawed Christianity. Vatican Radio reported more than 30,000 people attended the ceremony in the city's baseball stadium to celebrate the beatification of Jesuit Father Peter Kibe Kasui and 187 companions. During the Mass, which was concelebrated by 10 cardinals and bishops, Cardinal Saraiva said martyrs of every age, place and time have all displayed the same dedicated faith in Jesus Christ.
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Opposition politician makes Quebec's new ethics course election issue
MONTREAL, Quebec (CNS) -- In the campaign for Dec. 8 provincial elections, the head of Quebec's official opposition party has called for an end to a new ethics and religious culture course that has replaced religious education in state schools. However, opposition leader Mario Dumont might have overestimated the support he would gain with such a position. His Quebec Democratic Action party is behind in the polls, with only 14 percent of the vote, compared to 41 percent for the Liberal Party and 35 percent for Parti Quebecois. When schools reopened in September after the summer break, the ethics and culture course replaced religious education with a socio-cultural approach that offers an overview of major religions. The course presents each religion as equally valid and highlights the ethics promoted in each major world religion. The law implementing the change is part of the process of the gradual separation of religion from the state, one of the central tenets of Quebec life.
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Scholar: Election results could change Venezuelan political scene
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNS) -- Late-November election results could change Venezuela's political landscape, and polarization could be replaced by dialogue, said a Catholic scholar and human rights advocate. Jesuit Father Arturo Peraza, who teaches law at Andres Bello Catholic University in Caracas, Venezuela, told Catholic News Service by telephone that the high election turnout of about 65 percent and opposition gains "confirm the consensus that democracy is the route to improve the country." Opposition candidates in Venezuela expanded their control from two to five state governorships and also won the mayoralty of greater Caracas in the Nov. 23 elections. Although Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's allies continue to hold 17 of Venezuela's 22 governorships, the loss of three of those posts appears to reflect the mood of voters that they do not support the Socialist Party's plans to remove term limits in this mineral-rich nation, analysts said. Some Venezuela political leaders -- including Chavez -- made conciliatory statements, following the election. "Venezuela is much more (politically) plural than before," Father Peraza said. "This will carry to a much more democratic system."
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PEOPLE
Vatican newspaper: Beatles' music better than today's pop songs
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican newspaper said the musical compositions of the Beatles were far more creative than the "standardized and stereotyped" pop music of today. The Beatles' songs have demonstrated "remarkable staying power, becoming a source of inspiration for more than one generation of pop musicians," it said. The newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, published a lengthy and laudatory retrospective on the Beatles Nov. 22 to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of the "White Album," the group's groundbreaking double-record set. "Forty years later, this album remains a type of magical musical anthology: 30 songs you can go through and listen to at will, certain of finding some pearls that even today remain unparalleled," it said. With rock songs like "Back in the U.S.S.R." and "Helter Skelter," ballads like "Julia" and "Blackbird," and dreamlike pieces like "Dear Prudence," the album represents the "creative summit" of the Beatles' career, it said.
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Priest finally leaves Gaza to visit family, but feels 'split in two'
JERUSALEM (CNS) -- A priest locked in Gaza for more than a decade has been allowed to return home to visit his family in the West Bank village of Bir Zeit. Msgr. Manuel Musallam, 70, a priest at Holy Family Parish in Gaza City, has been a vocal advocate for Palestinian rights. His stance, he said, may be why Israel has constantly refused to give him a travel permit. But in mid-November he was allowed to travel to the West Bank. While Msgr. Musallam is eligible for retirement, he is torn about leaving the parish that he has shepherded through some of its most difficult moments. He said Palestinians living in Gaza continue to suffer under the weight of a nearly three-year old international boycott following the militant Palestinian group Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip and by a yearlong Israeli blockade because Palestinian gunmen were launching missiles into Israeli towns. "From time to time I weep," said Father Musallam. "I feel they are under my responsibility and to know the parish has remained without Mass on Sunday -- the emotions are too high.
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Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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