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The Southern Cross, July 8 to July 14, 2020
Pope commends UN for global ceasefire resolution BY COURTNEY MARES
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OPE Francis applauded the United Nations Security Council for its recent resolution calling for an immediate global ceasefire amid the coronavirus pandemic. “The call for a global and immediate ceasefire, which would allow the peace and security necessary to provide the urgently needed humanitarian assistance, is commendable,” the pope said after his Angelus prayer. “I hope that this decision will be implemented effectively and promptly for the good of many people who are suffering. May this Security Council resolution become a courageous first step towards a peaceful future,” he said. The ceasefire resolution applies to conflicts in Yemen, Syria, Libya, South Sudan, and Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the Associated Press. It demands “a durable humanitarian pause for at least 90 consecutive days” to ensure that medical and humanitarian aid will reach those in need as the coron-
avirus continues to spread. The 15 countries that make up the Security Council passed the resolution on July 1 after months of disagreement between China and the United States over whether the text would include references to either the World Health Organisation or “transparency”. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres first called for a global ceasefire on March 23 with Pope Francis echoing this appeal the following week. Mr Guterres said that a global ceasefire would “help create corridors for life-saving aid” and “bring hope to places among the most vulnerable to Covid-19”. He pointed out that refugee camps and people with existing health conditions are most at risk of suffering “devastating losses”. Pope Francis said: “Conflicts are not resolved through war.” He added that conflicts must be overcome through “dialogue and a constructive search for peace”. The pope said in his Angelus address that Jesus offers “the weary and
oppressed” much more than “psychological solace or a lavish handout”. “The joy that Jesus gives us. It is unique. It is the joy that he himself has,” he said. “The world exalts those who are rich and powerful, no matter by what means, and at times tramples upon the human being and his or her dignity. And we see this every day, the poor who are trampled underfoot,” Pope Francis said. “And it is a message for the Church, called to live works of mercy and to evangelise the poor, to be meek and humble. This is how the Lord wants his Church, that is, us, to be.” He said that Jesus placed himself among “those who labour and are burdened” because he was “meek and humble of heart”. “May Mary, the humblest and highest of creatures, implore from God wisdom of the heart for us that we may discern its signs in our lives and be sharers in those mysteries which, hidden from the proud, are revealed to the humble,” the pope said.—CNA
‘Church must rebuild trust amid abuse crisis’
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HE Church can only rebuild trust in its handling of clerical abuse by “taking responsibility for clarifying all crimes and omissions”, the primate of Poland said. In a statement Archbishop Wojciech Polak noted the steps that the Polish bishops have taken in response to a burgeoning abuse crisis in the country. “I am convinced that only by standing in truth and taking responsibility for clarifying all crimes and omissions, we will rebuild our credibility and trust in the Church in Poland,” he said. His comments came a week after more than 600 people took out a full-page advertisement in the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica urging the pope to intervene in the growing abuse crisis in the country. The Church in Poland has faced intense scrutiny of its handling of
abuse allegations in the wake of a documentary film, Tell No One, which has been viewed almost 24 million times on YouTube since its release last year. Archbishop Polak said that the Polish bishops’ safeguarding guidelines complied with the norms of the Holy See and Polish law, and had earned praise from Archbishop Charles Scicluna, one of the leading figures in the battle against clerical abuse. Theprimate of poland noted that he personally had reported a fellow bishop, Edward Janiak of Kalisz, to the Vatican under the law promulgated by the pope in June 2019 in the motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi. He said that he had taken the step after viewing the documentary film Hide and Seek, by brothers Marek and Tomasz Sekielski. In the follow-up to Tell No One, they alleged that Bishop
Janiak had failed to take action against a priest accused of abuse. The bishop has denied the allegations. “After watching the film, I could not remain silent or stay inactive in the face of the presented facts,” Archbishop Polak said. Last month Pope Francis appointed an apostolic administrator to take charge of Bishop Janiak’s diocese while an investigation into the bishop’s actions is carried out. Archbishop Polak acknowledged that, despite progress in combating abuse, confidence in Church authorities had been shaken by the crisis. “We must honestly admit that the law in force in the Church is not respected everywhere, and not all victims receive the help they need. Ensuring the safety of children and young people in the Church is still a challenge for us,” the archbishop said. —CNA
As DRC turns 60, cardinal says country has failed BY FREDRICK NZWILI
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S the Democratic Republic of Congo celebrated 60 years of independence from Belgium, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of Kinshasa said the “great dreams” of the people had been shuttered by successive regimes. “We have known successive autocratic regimes that have come to power like the colonialist without any concern for the will of the people, and this continues today: by force, war or fraud,” Cardinal Ambongo said in a homily. He did, however, remind people to celebrate. The cardinal said citizens were much poorer to the point of being classified by some as the most miserable on earth. The exploitation of mineral resources has occurred in broad daylight, with the population not benefiting, he said. In a visible policy of occupation, according to
Congolese Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of Kinshasa. (Photo: Remo Casilli, Reuters /CNS)
the cardinal, nine neighbouring countries had a presence in DRC, either as armies or as migrants. He highlighted the violation of the country’s territory and a Balkanisation agenda, pointing at the insecurity and rebel forces in the east of the country. “We must recognise this. After 60 years of independence, we have
shamefully failed. We have not been able to make Congo a more beautiful country than before,” said Cardinal Ambongo. “Each of us will have to account before God what he had done with his talents for this beautiful country,” he said. “We must get out of this mentality as we often hear in the city: that the president or the government will come to do this or that.” The latest worry, according to the cardinal, is growing mistrust and rivalry within the governing coalition that risks pushing the country back into chaos. The government is completely paralysed, and service to the people has been sacrificed, Cardinal Ambongo said. Instead of working together around common programmes, the members no longer trust each other, he said. “As long as this coalition is there, there is nothing to hope for from our rulers,” the cardinal said.—CNS
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Composer Ennio Morricone receives the Gold Medal of the Pontificate from Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi in April 2019. The composer died on Monday at the age of 91.
Composer died with ‘comfort of faith’
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NNIO Morricone, the Oscarwinning Italian composer honoured by Pope Francis, died on July 6 at 91 “with the comfort of faith”, his lawyer, Giorgio Assumma, announced. Mr Morricone died in a Rome hospital after he was admitted days earlier with a fractured femur. A Rome native, he composed more than 100 classical works and 400 movie and television soundtracks. Mr Morricone is perhaps best known in the Catholic world for creating the soundtrack to The Mission, the 1986 movie depicting Spanish Jesuits’ efforts to protect indigenous people from enslavement in 18thcentury South America. He achieved international fame in the 1960s with his work on a trilogy of Westerns—A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly—directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood. Mr Morricone also wrote the scores for global hits such as Once Upon A Time In America, The Untouchables, and Cinema Paradiso. He won an honorary Academy Award in 2007, and an Oscar for Best Original Score for The Hateful Eight in 2016. Mr Morricone wrote the score for Karol: A Man Who Became Pope, portraying the early life of St John Paul II, in 2006.
Pope Francis awarded the composer the Gold Medal of the Pontificate last year, in honour of his “extraordinary artistic work in the sphere of music, universal language of peace, solidarity and spirituality”. The award was presented by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, in Rome’s Sant’Agnese in Agone church in Piazza Navona. In an interview with the National Catholic Register in 2013, Mr Morricone discussed the relationship between his faith and art. “I do not think about my faith when I write a piece of music. I think of the music that I have to write— music is an abstract art. But of course, when I have to write a religious piece, certainly my faith contributes to it.” He composed a Mass marking the 200th anniversary of the restoration of the Society of Jesus in 2015, dedicating it to Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope. The composer and his wife met Pope Francis before the premiere of the “Missa Papae Francisci”. Recalling that he cried when he met the pope, Mr Morricone said: “Don’t get the idea that I burst into tears at every opportunity; those were the only two times I have ever cried—when I first watched The Mission and when I met the pope.”— CNA
Bishops call for EU support of persecuted Christians in Nigeria BY COURTNEY MARES
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HE president of the European bishops’ commission has promised persecuted Christians in Nigeria that he will advocate for increased support from the European Union. Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, who leads the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union, wrote a letter to the Nigerian bishops stating that the commission will advocate for EU assistance and cooperation with the Nigerian authorities to combat violence and persecution. The cardinal expressed solidarity with Nigerian Christian communities, who, he wrote, are “living a situation of continuous attacks by terrorists, insurgents and militias, that in some cases reach levels of
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genuine criminal persecution”, according to a European commission statement. An estimated 6 000 Nigerian Christians have been killed since 2015, mostly by Boko Haram and militant Fulani herders, the European commission reported. More than 600 Christians have been killed so far in 2020, according to an International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law report. Christians have been beheaded and set on fire, farms set ablaze, and priests and seminarians have been targeted for kidnapping and ransom. A Boko Haram attack on a village in the north-eastern Nigerian state of Borno left at least 81 people dead on June 9. The attack was the latest by an ongoing Islamist group against the country’s Christian population. —CNA
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