Bishops Express Concern over Security and Natural Resources

Democratic Republic of CONGO (formerly Zaire}: KINSHASA, July 13, 2007 (CISA) -Catholic Bishops of Congo called for a “great national leap forward and a new mentality to save the country from new danger” in a message to mark Independence Day.

The message, reports FIDES, was issued at the end of the 43rd assembly of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Congo held in the capital, Kinshasa, July 3 to 7. The bishops expressed concern for persisting insecurity in many parts of the country. “In every diocese all over the country, episodes are reported which demonstrate insecurity: robberies, rapes, violence, hostage taking, exaggerated taxes and arbitrary arrests. We condemn these crimes committed by members of the police, the army and foreign rebel troops present on our national territory”.

The bishops stressed the need for “the authorities, the people and all men and women of good to join forces to spare the country from another war.” They called for transparency in managing the country's natural resources and urged Congolese to invest and not rely only on foreign investment and aid. “We must not sleep; our house is on fire,” the bishops wrote. “Our national leaders must watch carefully to prevent the plunder of natural resources”.

The imminent drilling of oil under Lake Albert in Ituri where the situation is already tense is causing concern as to whether the local people will benefit, the bishops said. “The people want to know the truth and they fear oil wars”. “A country can never develop on foreign aid alone. Only hard work and transparent managing brings real development. The hour for Congolese investors has come!”
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Archbishop: Zimbabwians Desperate for New Leader

Report Accuses Mugabe of Violent Repression. Our people are desperate for President Robert Mugabe to relinquish power, said Archbishop Pius Ncube. Archbishop Ncube of Bulawayo said this Tuesday, while launching a report titled “Destructive Engagement: Violence, Mediation and Politics in Zimbabwe,” published by the Solidarity Peace Trust, a Church-based nongovernmental organization working for justice and peace in the country.

Archbishop Ncube urged the president to step down as the country sinks deeper into political and economic woes, according to the Catholic Information Service of Africa. “Mugabe is a man who is a megalomaniac. He loves power, he lives for power. Even his own party is appealing to him to step down,” the archbishop said. Torture: In the 44-page document, Mugabe’s regime is accused of the continued use of violence against political opponents to maintain power. “Out of 414 individuals interviewed, 30%, or 122, reported torture between March, April and May 2007,” the report said. “This is a shockingly high figure, yet it represents (only a) tip of the iceberg in Zimbabwe.

“Apart from politically motivated torture, torture of those arrested on suspicion of having committed a criminal offence is routine in Zimbabwe.” The report added: “In 90% of the attacks, government agencies such as the police, the central intelligence organization, the criminal investigation department and the army” were involved. More than three-quarters of reported cases were in the capital, Harare, “one of the two major urban areas considered to be opposition territory,” it continued.

The report’s launch came as President Mugabe ordered price cuts because of runaway inflation and widespread shortages. The Catholic Information Service of Africa reported that more than 1,300 supermarket managers and owners have been arrested for refusing to sell their merchandise at the lower prices.
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26,000-strong African Union-U.N. peacekeeping force for Darfur

UNITED NATIONS: Britain and Ghana circulated a draft Security Council resolution Wednesday that would authorize a 26,000-strong African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force for Darfur and threaten "further measures" against combatants who attack civilians and obstruct peace efforts. The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, states that there will be a single chain of command for the "hybrid" force, provided by the United Nations, a move that would clear up the contentious issue of who will be in charge of the joint AU-UN force.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guehenno indicated last month that the Sudanese government had accepted that the United Nations would have overall operational control of the force while day-to-day operations would be in the hands of its African commanders. But many Security Council members wanted that spelled out clearly in a resolution. The draft states that the AU-UN hybrid operation in Darfur, to be known as UNAMID, will have up to 19,555 military personnel, including 360 military observers and liaison officers, a civilian component including up to 3,772 international police, and 19 special police units with up to 2,660 officers.

It demands that all parties in Darfur "immediately cease hostilities and attacks" on the AU force, civilians and humanitarian workers. It also emphasizes that "there can be no military solution to the conflict in Darfur and calls upon the government of Sudan and the rebel groups to enter into talks" to reach a political settlement.

The four-year conflict between ethnic African rebels and pro-government janjaweed militia in Sudan's vast western region has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced 2.5 million, and a beleaguered 7,000-strong African Union force has been unable to stop the fighting. A peace agreement signed a year ago year between President Omar al-Bashir's government and one rebel group in Darfur has been ineffective because more than a dozen other rebel factions rejected the deal as insufficient and are still fighting.

The U.N. and Western governments have been pressing Sudan since November to accept a U.N. plan for a hybrid force to replace the poorly equipped and underfunded AU force. In April, Sudan agreed to a "heavy support package" to strengthen the AU force, including 3,000 U.N. troops, police and civilian personnel along with aircraft and other equipment. The draft resolution calls on all parties to urgently facilitate the full deployment of the heavy support package and an earlier light support package, and to finalize contributions to the hybrid force within 30 days of the adoption of the resolution. Guehenno has said he hopes the heavy support package can be in Darfur in the coming months so that by the end of year deployment of the hybrid force can start.

The draft resolution asks Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to report to the council in three months on progress — and obstacles — to deploying the light and heavy support packages, to implementing a U.N.-Sudan agreement to speed up humanitarian assistance, to promoting a political settlement, to achieving a cease-fire, and to implementing last year's Darfur Peace Agreement. It also asks the secretary-general and a panel of experts "to report immediately to the council on any failure by the parties to comply with this resolution." The draft stresses that "in the event the parties to the conflict in Darfur fail to fulfill their commitments or cooperate fully with this resolution" or previous resolutions "the council, drawing on the above reports, will take further measures." It does not state what these measures could be, but further measures often refers to sanctions.

The draft resolution also reiterates the council's readiness to consider deploying a U.N. mission to eastern Chad and northeastern Central African Republic, which have been affected by the spillover of the Darfur conflict. The draft resolution welcomes the appointment of Force Commander Martin Agwait of Nigeria and the AU-UN Joint Special Representative for Darfur Rodolphe Adada, a former Republic of Congo foreign minister. Guehenno has said Agwait will report to Adada.
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Protect Rights of Migrant Workers and Their Families

VATICAN CITY, JUL 11, 2007 - Made public yesterday afternoon was a speech delivered by Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, during the Global Forum on Migration and Development, held in Brussels, Belgium from July 9 to 11.

Speaking English, the archbishop recalled how "migrants contribute to their host country's well-being, and also because of this their human dignity must be respected and their freedoms guaranteed: the right to a dignified life, to fair treatment at work, to have access to education, health and other social benefits, to grow in competence and develop humanly, to freely manifest their culture and practice their religion. "But rights and duties go together," he added. "Therefore, at the same time, migrants have the duty to respect the identity and the laws of the country of residence, strive for proper integration (not assimilation) into the host society and learn its language. They are to foster esteem and respect for their host country, even to the point of loving and defending it.

"Unfortunately, among them there are immigrants in an irregular situation, who, however, independently of their legal status, have inalienable human dignity. Therefore their rights must be safeguarded and not ignored or violated. An irregular migration status, in fact, does not mean criminality. The solution is better international cooperation that discourages irregularity, with increased legal channels for migration." Archbishop Marchetto concluded his talk by renewing the call made by the Pope in his Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees for "governments who have not yet done so, to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and the Members of their Families."

Nairobi (ENI). Churches around the world are concerned about the fate of migrants fleeing poverty or violence in their home countries. In Africa, many young people are lured to Europe and the United States by the promise of a better life there. However, many who make the journey end up as illegal migrants. In Sri Lanka, the armed conflict between government forces and Tamil rebels is producing displaced people by the thousands. In Jordan and Syria, some Iraqi Christians have waited for immigrants' visas for more than 10 years.
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Essays mark 40th anniversary of Populorum Progressio

LONDON - 10 July 2007: The International Jesuit Network on Development (IJND) has published a collection of essays to mark the 40th anniversary of Populorum Progressio, the papal encyclical on development and justice. This visionary encyclical, which highlighted many of the issues which we now see as central to development, is sadly still relevant in a world where millions of people in our world today live in misery. Children in Central America scavenge in rubbish tips to survive; in sub-Saharan Africa life expectancy has dropped to forty-five, due largely to HIV/AIDS; and over a billion people around the world live on less than two dollars a day.

"In the light of this scandal, the urgent call for action for global justice issued by Pope Paul Vl in his encyclical Populorum Progressio is as necessary today as when it was written in 1967," according to IJND.

To mark the fortieth anniversary of Populorum Progressio, its central messages have inspired experts in development to reflect on its enduring relevance. The Development of Peoples: Challenges for Today and Tomorrow looks at issues across today s development spectrum, including poverty, debt, trade, peace and conflict, human rights, globalisation, HIV/AIDS, gender inequality, the environment, and migration.

The writers come from five continents, and include Mary Ann Cejka, Peter Henriot SJ, Michael Kelly SJ, Justin Kilcullen, Peadar Kirby, Mulima Kufekisa-Akapelwa, Maria Reilly OP, and Jon Sobrino SJ. The Foreword is by Mary Robinson, the founder of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The essays were commissioned by the International Jesuit Network for Development, and were prepared for publication by the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice in Dublin.

The Development of Peoples: Challenges for Today and Tomorrow by the International Jesuit Network for Development ISBN: 9781856075749

To order see: Columba Press: www.columba.ie, or Amazon on the Home page of ICN.
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Arms Spending Continues to Grow

ROME, JULY 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Annual Report Reveals Big Increase in Arms Trade. World military expenditure grew 3.5% in 2006, reaching $1,204 billion. On June 11th the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute published the latest edition of its annual yearbook that provides an ample panorama of armaments and global security issues. Last year's increase means that between 1997-2006 world military expenditure rose by 37%. Moreover, almost 50% more conventional weapons were transferred internationally in 2006 than in 2002.

Elisabeth Sköns, one of those involved in writing the report, commented: "It is worth asking how cost-effective military expenditure is as a way of increasing the security of human lives, if we talk about avoiding premature deaths and disability due to current dangers." "For example, we know that millions of lives could be saved through basic health interventions that would cost a fraction of what the world spends on military forces every year," she said in a press release accompanying the report's publication.

The report pointed out that world military expenditure is unevenly distributed to an extreme degree. In 2006, the 15 countries with the highest spending accounted for 83% of the global total. The United States spent $528.7 billion. Military spending by the U.S. has increased sharply due to the cost of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The report noted that in 2006 China's military expenditure continued to increase rapidly, reaching $49.5 billion. For the first time it surpassed that of Japan ($43.7 billion), thus making China the biggest military spender in Asia and the fourth biggest in the world. In fact, Japan decreased its military spending last year, for the fifth consecutive year. India was the third biggest spender in Asia, at $23.9 billion.
Father John Flynn, L.C.
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South African bishop banned from visiting Zimbabwe

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe -- A South African Catholic bishop has become the latest target of Zimbabwean authorities who accuse him of criticising President Robert Mugabe’s human rights records. Authorities have reportedly barred Bishop Kevin Dowling of Rustenburg, South Africa, from visiting the country.

Dowling was in Zimbabwe’s second city, Bulawayo, last week where he held a series of meetings with local clergy. Sources in the city told NCR that Dowling was detained for hours by agents of the Central Intelligence Organisation who quizzed him about his business in the city, which is home to the outspoken Archbishop Pius Ncube. Dowling was a speaker at a prayer meeting organized in the city to pray for Zimbabwe’s torture victims and pro-democracy activists who lawyers and civic groups allege have been abducted by the ruling party’s militias and state security agents.

Ecumenical News International in Geneva reported that Dowling had said that the government of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe had lost its legitimacy. “A government that tortures its own people is not a government but a regime, an illegitimate regime,” Dowling was quoted as saying. “God was not with the apartheid regime [in South Africa], and God is not with this regime in Zimbabwe. It will fall,” Dowling said. Five other pastors travelling with Dowling had their passports confiscated. “They effectively told him not to come back to Zimbabwe,” Rita Normington, Ncube’s secretary said.

However, Dowling was expected back in Bulawayo on Thursday (July 5) this week, and the archbishop’s office, which was to host him, expressed fears that Dowling would be detained again or denied entry into Zimbabwe. Dowling was also one of the main speakers at a similar pray rally Ncube organized in April, and sources here say this was when Dowling attracted the attention of the authorities. Zimbabwean immigration officials have turned down work permits from Catholic priests, and there are fears the government is slowly getting rid of all missionaries working in the country. Authorities have in the past threatened to confiscate Ncube’s passport to stop his travelling abroad. They accuse him of “telling falsehoods” about the country’s continuing crisis and growing repression as the regime cracks down on opposition voices.

Zimbabwe’s bishops’ conference issued a pastoral letter, “God Hears the Cry of the Oppressed,” just before Easter that said Zimbabwe’s crisis is one of governance, leadership, spirituality and morality. To avoid “further bloodshed and avert a mass uprising,” a new constitution is needed to guide democracy “chosen in free and fair elections that will offer a chance for economic recovery under genuinely new policies,” the bishops wrote. The letter is the strongest statement the bishops have issued since the country began an economic meltdown some two years ago. The unemployment rate of 80 percent and an inflation rate of more than 1,700 percent has “made the life of ordinary Zimbabweans unbearable, regardless of their political preferences,” the bishops said. Since the letter’s release Mugabe has accused the Catholic hierarchy of dabbling in politics and has threatened them with unspecified action.
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Women's Leadership on AIDS is Vital

Nairobi: An international women's summit in Nairobi on HIV and AIDS has concluded with a "call to action" that asserts women's leadership is essential if the course of the current pandemic is to be changed. "Women are infected more easily than men, and they are the ones that carry the burden of caring for the sick," said Anne-Marie Helland, special advisor for social and political rights with Norwegian Church Aid. "This is why it's so important that women are involved in the process to decide the direction in which we shall continue in the fight against HIV and AIDS," she added.

7/7/7 - NOW is the Time

Halfway to the Millenium Development Goals

July 07 marks the middle point of this possible life changing campaign for millions of people. These Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs, set out specific, achievable targets on issues ranging from world hunger to HIV/AIDS to child mortality rates.

The Goals, however, are about much more than governments and world leaders. They are about a global people trying to bring about a standard of living for the earth’s people.

The Irish Missionary Union represents has 2184 lay and religious missionaries working in 83 countries. These Missionaries represent the commitment that comes from the Community of Christian faith here in Ireland. Part of the Irish Missionary vision includes working towards the Development Goals, as these Irish missionaries are working with some of the poorest and most vulnerable in our world.

According to the Evekline Herfkens, (Executive Coordinator for the Millennium Campaign) "People of faith are key to achieving the Millennium Goals. They know that malnutrition, ill health, lack of education and lack of economic opportunity violate human dignity, and that there is no excuse for this situation to continue. And every day they turn this conviction into action, by caring for the neediest and most vulnerable. Religious communities have done more than any others to make us aware of the sheer scale of human suffering in our world, and of our duty to end it.

Already many people of faith are standing up against poverty across the globe, and demanding that political leaders honor their promises to fulfill the basic needs of very person. This work must continue: it is very important that religious leaders enable the voices of the poor to reverberate in the halls of power, especially as there are encouraging signs that political leaders are listening. Religious leaders and people of faith can make an important and unique contribution. As we approach the 2015 deadline to meet the Goals, we must all step up pressure on governments to scale up implementation

IF you are interested in joining in the campaign finding our more about these goal please click here (http://www.millenniumcampaign.org/).
See also for action on water and sanitation ... http://www.unicef.org/wes/mdgreport/millenium.php
& http://www.wssinfo.org/en/welcome.html

Baptized Are Envoys of Peace, Says Pope

The Gospel “reawakens in all those who are baptised the awareness of being missionaries of Christ, called to prepare the way for him through words and the witness of one’s life”, because mission “is not reserved solely for the Apostles but also extends to the other disciples”.This was what Benedict XVI had to say about today’s Gospel reading (cfr Lk 10:1-12; 17-20), before the Angelus. Taking his cue from this passage, he stressed that “the harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few.”

The Pope noted how today’s Gospel presents “Jesus sending the seventy-two disciples in villages where he is about to go, so that they may prepare the environment. And this is a particularity of the evangelist Luke, who underlines that mission is not reserved for the 12 Apostles but extends also to the other disciples.” In fact, “there is work for all in the field of God”. But Christ, says Benedict XVI, “does not limit himself to sending them: He also gives the missionaries clear and precise rules of how to behave. Above all, he sends them ‘two by two’, so that they may help each other and bear witness to fraternal love. He warns them that they will be ‘like lambs amongst wolves’: thus they must be peaceful despite everything and bear a message of peace in all situations; they will not take clothes or money with them, to live off what Providence offers them; they will take care of the sick, as a sign of the mercy of God; they will leave from those places where they are refused, limiting themselves to delivering a warning about the responsibility of rejecting the Kingdom of God.”

St Luke, continues the pontiff, “highlights the enthusiasm of the disciples for the good fruits of the mission, and records that beautiful expression of Jesus: ‘Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven’ (Lk 10:20). This Gospel reawakens in all those who are baptised the awareness of being missionaries of Christ, called to prepare the way for him through words and the witness of one’s life.”

Right before the prayer, the Pope recalled that tomorrow he will leave for his summer holidays in Lorenzago di Cadore, in the house that welcomed John Paul II and he augured that all, “especially those who feel they really need it, will be able to take some vacation, to reinvigorate physical and spiritual energies and to recover healthy contact with nature.” The mountains, he added, “evoke the ascent of the spirit, the elevation towards ‘the high measure’ of our humanity, which unfortunately daily life tends to bring down.”

In conclusion, Benedict XVI recalled the fifth Pilgrimage of youth to the Cross of Adamello, where John Paul went twice. The pilgrimage took place recently and shortly before the Angelus, it culminated in Holy Mass celebrated at an altitude of around 3,000 metres. Greeting the Archbishop of Trento and the Secretary General of CEI, as well as the authorities of Trento, the Pope recalled his date with all Italian youth on 1 and 2 September in Loreto.

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Monastery Life

A young monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to helping the other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the church by hand. He notices, however, that all of the monks are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript. So, the new monk goes to the head abbot to question this, pointing out that if someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up! In fact, that error would be continued in all of the subsequent copies.The head monk, says, "We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son." He goes down into the dark caves underneath the monastery where the original manuscripts are held as archives in a locked vault that hasn't been opened for hundreds of years. Hours go by and nobody sees the old abbot.
So, the young monk gets worried and goes down to look for him. He sees him banging his head against the wall and wailing,

"We missed the R ! We missed the R ! We missed the R !"

His forehead is all bloody and bruised and he is crying uncontrollably. The young monk asks the old abbot, "What's wrong, father?" With A choking voice, the old abbot replies,"The word was...CELEBRATE!!!"

Live Earth just as big as Live8: Gordon Brown

The British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has hailed the Live Earth concerts as just as big and important as the anti-poverty event Live8. Mr Brown said tackling climate change would be a personal priority for his premiership.

Mr Brown's remarks come as a university in England says it is launching the world's first master's degree aimed at helping to reduce carbon emissions. Star-studded concerts in New York and Rio de Janeiro were the last to get under way, after a day-long global music event that kicked off yesterday in Sydney before moving to Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Hamburg, London and Washington.

Former US Vice-President Al Gore, speaking via a satellite link, urged audiences at venues around the globe to take a seven-point green pledge to reduce their own carbon footprints on the planet and to lobby governments and industries to educe the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere. However, critics pointed out that pollution caused by the concerts makes them part of the problem as well as the solution.

The concert in Shanghai, which was only attended by about 2,700 people, was seen as key in the drive to raise awareness about climate change, with China already or soon-to-become the biggest greenhouse gas emitter in the world.
The Johannesburg event was almost sold out, with the South African Grammy award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir, Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo, British diva Joss Stone and the reggae group UB40.
In Rio, 400,000 people girated to Live Earth music by Lenny Kravitz, Xuxa and Pharrell Williams on Copacabana beach.

The concerts, many powered with renewable energy and featuring recyclable stages, were carried by 120 television networks around the world and streamed live on the Internet. By 0200 GMT some 150,000 persons had pledged to decrease their use of fossil fuels, according to the Live Earth website. Live Earth featured some 7,000 events in 129 countries, with a smaller concert staged in the Japanese city of Kyoto and an unusual performance by scientists-cum-rockers Nunatak in Antarctica, where temperatures have risen by nearly three degrees Celsius in the last 50 years.
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