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Pope commends UN for global ceasefire resolution

BYCOURTNEYMARES

POPE Francis applauded the United Nations Security Council for its recent resolution callingforan 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 urgentlyneeded 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 ofmany people who are suffering. Maythis 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 RepublicofCongo, accordingto 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

THE Church can only rebuild abuse by “taking responsibility

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. standing in truth and taking responbility and trust in the Church in Poland,” he said.

His comments came a week after more than 600 people took out a

The Church in Poland has faced intense scrutiny of its handling of

BYFREDRICKNZWILI

Congo celebrated 60 years of independence from Belgium, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of Kinshasa said the “great dreams” of the people had been shuttered by suc

“We have known successive autocratic regimes that have come to power like the colonialist without ple, 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 policy of occupation, according to avirus continues to spread.

The 15 countries that make up the Security Council passed the resolution on July1 aftermonths ofdisagreement 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 wearyand abuse allegations in the wake of a million times on YouTube since its release last year.

Archbishop Polak said that the Polish bishops’ safeguarding guideHoly See and Polish law, and had earned praise from Archbishop figures in the battle against clerical abuse. bishop, Edward Janiak of Kalisz, to the Vatican under the law promulgated by the pope in June 2019 in

He said that he had taken the step Tomasz Sekielski. In the follow-up to Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo ofKinshasa. (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 tion 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 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 forthe Church, called to live works ofmercyand 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 said.—CNA

‘Church must rebuild trust amid abuse crisis’

trust in its handling of clerical for clarifying all crimes and omissions”, the primate of Poland said.

“I am convinced that only by sibility for clarifying all crimes and omissions, we will rebuild our credi

full-page advertisement in the Italian dailynewspaperLa Repubblica urging the pope to intervene in the growing abuse crisis in the country.

documentary film, Tell No One, which has been viewed almost 24

lines complied with the norms ofthe Charles Scicluna, one of the leading

Theprimate of poland noted that he personally had reported a fellow the motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi.

after viewing the documentary film HideandSeek, bybrothers Marekand revealed to the humble,” the pope

Tell No One, they alleged that Bishop Janiak had failed to take action against a priest accused ofabuse. The bishop has denied the allegations.

“After watching the film, I could not remain silent or stay inactive in the face ofthe presented facts,” Archbishop Polak said.

Last month Pope Francis appointed an apostolic administrator to take charge ofBishop 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 honestlyadmit 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 said. —CNA

ComposerEnnioMorriconereceivestheGoldMedalofthePontificate fromCardinalGianfrancoRavasiinApril2019.Thecomposerdiedon Mondayattheageof91.

Composer died with ‘comfort of faith’

ENNIO Morricone, the OscarPope Francis awarded the comwinning Italian composer honposer the Gold Medal of the Pontifioured by Pope Francis, died on cate last year, in honour of his July 6 at 91 “with the comfort of “extraordinary artistic work in the faith”, his lawyer, Giorgio Assumma, sphere of music, universal language announced. of peace, solidarity and spirituality”.

Mr Morricone died in a Rome The award was presented by Carhospital after he was admitted days dinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of earlier with a fractured femur. the Pontifical Council forCulture, in

A Rome native, he composed Rome’s Sant’Agnese in Agone church more than 100 classical works and in Piazza Navona. 400 movie and television soundIn an interviewwith the National tracks. Catholic Register in 2013, Mr Morri

Mr Morricone is perhaps best cone discussed the relationship beknown in the Catholic world forcretween his faith and art. ating the soundtrack to The Mission, “I do not think about my faith the 1986 movie depictingSpanish Jewhen I write a piece ofmusic. I think suits’ efforts to protect indigenous of the music that I have to write— people from enslavement in 18thmusic is an abstract art. But of century South America. course, when I have to write a reli

He achieved international fame in gious piece, certainly my faith conthe 1960s with his work on a trilogy tributes to it.” of Westerns—A Fistful ofDollars, For He composed a Mass markingthe A Few Dollars More, and The Good, 200th anniversary of the restoration The Bad and the Ugly—directed by of the Society of Jesus in 2015, dediSergio Leone and starring Clint Eastcating it to Pope Francis, the first Jewood. Mr Morricone also wrote the suit pope. scores for global hits such as Once The composer and his wife met Upon A TimeIn America, TheUntouchPope Francis before the premiere of ables, and Cinema Paradiso. the “Missa Papae Francisci”.

He won an honorary Academy Recalling that he cried when he Award in 2007, and an OscarforBest met the pope, Mr Morricone said: Original Score forTheHatefulEightin “Don’t get the idea that I burst into 2016. tears at every opportunity; those

Mr Morricone wrote the score for were the only two times I have ever Karol: A Man Who Became Pope, porcried—when I first watched The Mistraying the early life of St John Paul sion and when I met the pope.”— II, in 2006. CNA

As DRC turns 60,

AS the Democratic Republic of cessive regimes.

any concern for the will of the peo

broad daylight, with the population not benefiting, he said. In a visible

cardinal says country has failed

Congolese

country’s territory and a Balkanisa

challenge for us,” the archbishop 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

Bishops call for EU support of persecuted Christians in Nigeria

BYCOURTNEYMARES

THE 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 genuine criminal persecution”, according to a European commission statement.

An estimated 6000 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 forkidnappingand 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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