Month: July 2018

No Picture
News Briefs

Bishops denounce crisis caused by armed groups in Colombian department

July 6, 2018 CNA Daily News 1

Quibdo, Colombia, Jul 6, 2018 / 04:11 pm (ACI Prensa).- The bishops of the Chocó Department in Colombia denounced Thursday the crisis occurring in the impoverished region due to crime and an onslaught by illegal armed groups which have been met by government inaction.

A July 5 statement signed by the Chocó Inter-ethnic Solidarity  Forum, the Standing Roundtable of Dialogue and Agreement of the Indigenous Peoples of Chocó, and the dioceses of  Quibdó, Apartadó, and Itsmina-Tadó denounced this situation and demanded concrete action from the government.  

Located in Colombia’s far-west, Chocó has one the lowest living standards among the country’s departments. More than 80 percent of its population are Afro-Colombians, and almost 13 percent are indigenous. Only five percent are white or mestizo.

Violence in Chocó has continued despite a 2016 peace deal between the national government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) which was meant to wind-down the country’s 54-year conflict among the government, right-wing paramilitaries, and left-wing guerillas.

The text states that little progress has been made in the implementation of the peace accord with the FARC, and not fully controlling the territories left by the guerrillas has left the inhabitants of Chocó “quite helpless, at the mercy of paramilitary groups, the National Liberation Army (ELN), and other armed actors.”

Although the Colombian army and navy conduct operations in the department, these forces “are not sufficient to counteract the actions of groups outside the law. The Army has a network of informants in the civil population, which violates the principle of distinguishing between civilians and combatants, and despite the implementation of infrastructure projects, healthcare activities and social integration, without effective security the civilian population is put at grave risk due to the intensity of the armed conflict in the region.”

In the cities of Chocó “the murder rate is above the national average,” the leaders wrote. “Illegal armed actors exercise territorial control in extensive areas, they systematically extort the inhabitants, they construct invisible boundaries, they impose schedules on the people’s free movement, they restrict access by foreigners, they engage in small time drug dealing, they use adolescents as informants (called bell-ringers) and they very frequently rape minors.”

Another aggravating factor is the presence of the Clan del Golfo, a drug-trafficking paramilitary group which continues to fight in the Colombian conflict. Clan del Golfo “occupies and contests ethnic territories” the bishops said, and “is financed by black market mining operations, takes part in the production and distribution of cocaine, [and] extorts and forces people from the communities to be their informants.”

In addition, the ELN guerilla group continues their terrorist actions, recruiting “black and indigenous minors,” forcing the communities to participate in their meetings and obstructing “their traditional work.”

The bishops recalled that “the ELN stormed into a community festival” May 13, killing “José David Hurtado Mosquera in the town of Pogue, a black community in Bojayá township.”

They are therefore urging the Colombian government “to guarantee the free movement and security of the leaders, communities, and organizations in the Chocó department; that the safeguards and commitments established in the Chapter on Ethnic Groups of the Peace Accord be fulfilled; that the illegal armed groups be disbanded; and that the grave humanitarian, social and environmental  crisis in Chocó be addressed.”  

They also requested the various law enforcement agencies  to exercise more effectively their responsibility concerning the protection of human rights in the Chocó department.

They also called on the Colombian government and the ELN to assume the demands of the Humanitarian Accord and to establish a cease fire, “respecting human rights and international humanitarian law.”

Additionally, they asked the authorities to implement the peace accord with FARC.

Finally, they asked that “the Roundtable Talks with the ELN in Havana be continued, with the criteria of truth and coherence, and respect for the trust of the Colombian people.”

 

This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

[…]

No Picture
News Briefs

Vatican diplomat hopeful about prospect of peace on Korean peninsula

July 6, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Seoul, South Korea, Jul 6, 2018 / 12:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican’s top diplomat expressed hope Thursday that efforts to bring lasting, stable peace on the Korean peninsula will bear fruit.

“We don’t have any doubt that there will be many challenges and many difficulties ahead, but the determination that the Korean people have always shown in determining their future, I am sure with the prayers and support of Christians and other men and women in good faith around the world that many good things will be achieved in the coming months. We pray for that,” Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, said July 5 at the Joint Security Area on the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.

Archbishop Gallagher arrived in Seoul July 4 for a six-day trip to South Korea on an invitation from the country’s government. In addition to visiting the DMZ, he will meet with President Moon Jae-in and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.

The Vatican official’s visit comes at the same time that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in North Korea to discuss Pyongyang’s denuclearization. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had met with US President Donald Trump last month, signing a joint statement making commitments “to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.”

Archbishop Gallagher, touring the Joint Security Area, said, “it is a very historic period, a period of hope and the Holy Father is supporting that movement.” The area is the one portion of the DMZ where North and South Korean soldiers stand face-to-face, and it is used for diplomatic meetings between the countries.

He prayed that “in the future, it will be a place for hope and reconciliation.”

Addressing North Korea, he said that “humanity has always got to move forward.”

“Whatever side of the border we may be on, whatever situation we find ourselves in, we have to try and work for advancing the development of society.”

He said he is “sure that there will be much good that will come in everything that is happening throughout the Korean Peninsula” and among their international partners.

Reflecting July 6 on his visit to the Joint Security Area, Archbishop Gallager said that the “very delicate situation” there “makes the efforts to promote denuclearization, unification and peace on the peninsula very, very pertinent indeed.”

“What is surprising is that the division of only six or seven decades turned what was previously one country into very different nations. I was freshly reminded that we have so much to do about that,” he added.

The archbishop called on Catholics to “mobilize every possible (opportunity) to make peace” between the Koreas.

[…]

No Picture
News Briefs

Convicted Australian archbishop says he’ll step down if appeal fails

July 6, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Adelaide, Australia, Jul 6, 2018 / 10:56 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In the continued fallout of his conviction for failing to report allegations of child sexual abuse, Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson has faced calls both inside and outside of the Church to resign.

Wilson, who earlier this month received a 12-month detention sentence, most of which is likely to be spent under house arrest, said he intends to appeal.

In a July 4 statement posted on the Archdiocese of Adelaide’s website, Wilson said he is aware of the calls for his resignation, and has “taken them very seriously.”

“However, at this time, I am entitled to exercise my legal rights and to follow the due process of law. Since that process is not yet complete, I do not intend to resign at this time,” he said, adding that should his appeal prove unsuccessful, “I will immediately offer my resignation to the Holy See.”

Until that time, “the legal process must now be allowed to proceed in the normal way,” he said, adding that he plans to make no further public statements for the time being.

Wilson, 67, stepped aside from his role as Archbishop of Adelaide after being convicted in May of failing to report multiple allegations of child sexual abuse disclosed to him in the 1970s; however, he did not resign.

On June 3, Pope Francis named Bishop Greg O’Kelly SJ of Australia’s Diocese of Port Pirie as apostolic administrator of Adelaide, entrusting him with day-to-day leadership responsibilities. At 76, O’Kelly is unlikely to take over for Wilson should the latter tender his resignation.

In a July 5 statement, published the day after Wilson issued his, Archbishop Mark Coleridge, president of the Australian Bishops Conference, noted that “a number of survivors, prominent Australians and other members of the community have publicly called on Archbishop Wilson to resign.”

These include Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and opposition leader Bill Shorten, who have argued that the archbishop is not in a position to lead.

“Although we have no authority to compel him to do so, a number of Australian bishops have also offered their advice privately,” said Archbishop Coleridge, adding, “Only the Pope can compel a bishop to resign.”

Coldridge said the conference has been “closely following” Wilson’s case and they respect his decision to appeal, which is “the right of any citizen,” but said that “we also recognize the ongoing pain this has caused survivors, especially those who were abused by Jim Fletcher.”

Wilson was found guilty of failure to report accusations of crimes carried out by abusive priest Fr. James Fletcher, who was convicted of nine counts of sexual abuse and was jailed in 2006. He died of a stroke within the year.

Two of Fletcher’s victims – Peter Creigh and another altar boy who is unnamed for legal reasons – said they had told Wilson of their abusive experience with Fr. James Fletcher, and that Wilson, who had only been ordained a priest for a year when Creigh came to him in 1976, dismissed their complaints.

Wilson has maintained his innocence throughout the process, saying he had no recollection of the accusations, and insisting that if he had been notified of the scandal, he would have offered pastoral care to the victims and their families, and reported the event to his superiors.

According to CNN, the archbishop’s legal team argued that in the 1970s, child sex abuse was not understood to be a serious crime that should be reported to authorities.

His legal team had attempted four times to have the case thrown out, including after the archbishop was diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease late last year, but it was denied.

 

[…]

No Picture
News Briefs

Francis thanks Ukrainian Greek-Catholics for their ‘service to Christian unity’

July 6, 2018 CNA Daily News 1

Vatican City, Jul 6, 2018 / 10:41 am (CNA/EWTN News).- According to a release from the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, during a meeting with the Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halyč on Tuesday, Pope Francis commended the Church for its witness to Christian unity.

The Pope thanked the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church for its martyrdom “as a confession of the Christian Faith and a testimony that the Successor of Peter the Apostle has a special mission of service to Cristian unity,” according to a statement from the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church.

The Vatican announced that Pope Francis met with Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk July 3 at the Vatican’s Santa Marta guesthouse, but did not give details of their encounter.

The meeting was requested by Archbishop Shevchuk to commemorate “the 1030th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus’-Ukraine.”

The event being celebrated was the 988 baptism of Vladimir (Volodymyr) the Great, Grand Prince of Kiev, which resulted in the Christianization of Kievan Rus’, a state whose heritage Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus all claim.

Archbishop Shevchuk told Francis that the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church’s path was a “testimony of the unity that Christ’s Church enjoyed in the First Millennium, at the time of the Baptism of Saint Volodymyr, and a particular witness of martyrs and confessors for Church unity, – in the 20th century.”

“Our Church’s path of martyrdom consists in a recognition of the particular mission of the Successors of the Apostle Peter as visible servants of the unity of Christ’s Church,” he said.

The Major Archbishop discussed the relationship of his Church to the other Churches rooted in the Christianization of Kievan Rus’, including the Russian Orthodox Church and several Orthodox Churches in Ukraine.

In addition to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), there are two other Orthodox Churches which have claimed autocephaly, but are not recognized by other Orthodox Churches: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate) and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

These two latter Churches have asked the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew for recognition as autocephalous Churches, in a request forwarded by Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko and supported by the nation’s parliament.

Archbishop Shevchuk called the division among Orthodox Churches in Ukraine a painful reality, and recounted “shameful incidents where the Holy Mysteries (Sacraments), in particular the Mystery of Holy Baptism, had been used to humiliate or deny the Christian identity of faithful belonging to certain denominations.”

He said that the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church looks “positively upon the efforts to overcome the divisions in Ukrainian Orthodoxy, according to the ancient principal salus animarum lex suprema est (the salvation of souls is the highest law). At the same time, we regard these processes as internal Orthodox matters and, – on no account, – do we ever interfere in them or take part in them. We believe that the civil authority must ensure that conditions exist that allow for the freedom of all churches, in our country. We also believe that is unacceptable for the state, – to treat any Church as an official state church.”

The overtures of the UOC-KP and UAOC to the Ecumenical Patriarch have been denounced by the Russian Orthodox. Vatican Insider has reported that Metropolitan Hilarion, spokesman for the Moscow Patriarchate, told the Greek Orthodox website Romfea that “blood will be shed” if the Ukrainian Churches are granted autocephaly.

Metropolitan Hilarion claimed there are “three forces” behind the push for autocephaly in Ukraine: Ukrainian political leadership, the UOC-KP itself, and the “uniates” of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, each of which acts “for its own benefit.”

During his meeting with Pope Francis, Archbishop Shevchuk touched upon this “uniatism”, saying the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church rejects “uniatism” as a method for achieving Church unity, since it has received the Balamand declaration.

That 1993 declaration of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church said that seeking the conversion of persons from one Church to the other, which it said has been called “uniatism”, cannot be accepted as a model to follow or as a model for the unity sought by the Churches.

Archbishop Shevchuk stated to Pope Francis that “it is obvious that the ultimate act of uniatism, in the 20th century, was the 1946 Lviv pseudo-council.”

The 1946 Synod of Lviv was the means by which the Soviet Union acted to suppress the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church and forcibly to absorb it into the Russian Orthodox Church.

“Accusations of uniatism directed at the UGCC, due of its active ecumenical position and its invitation to seek paths of unity with the Orthodox, are nothing less than a manipulation of the facts. The Eastern Catholic Churches, in and of themselves, are not ‘some sort of method,’ but are living members of Christ’s Church, which not only have the right to exist but are also called to engage in mission and in the work of evangelization.”

The release from the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church said Pope Francis assured the Church of his support and agreed that accusations of uniatism against it are groundless.

“He also thanked the UGCC for its active participation in rebuilding Ukrainian society based on the principles of Catholic Social teaching … He thanked the Church for its promotion of authentic Christian patriotism which, under no circumstances, should be used or manipulated for particular ecclesiastical or ideological goals,” according to the statement.

“The Holy Father also expressed his closeness to the Ukrainian nation which, as the victim of unjust aggression, is living through a painful period of its history.”

The statement added that Francis drew attention to the importance of Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation, and said he would also remember Ukraine during his July 7 ecumenical prayer for peace in the Middle East which will be held in Bari.

[…]