(Vatican Radio) As right-wing Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu celebrates his latest election victory, analysts are asking what hopes remain for any peace negotiations with the Palestinians. In the run-up to Tuesday’s vote, the Likud party leader ruled out the creation of a Palestinian state in what he called the current context of rising Islamic extremism and instability in the Middle East.
Jesuit Father David Neuhaus is in charge of the small Hebrew-speaking Catholic community in Israel. He wasn’t surprised by Netanyahu’s win in the polls, but he says this election victory may also provide new impetus for the international community to step up its pressure on the Israeli government and provide an alternative vision for lasting peace in the region….
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Fr Neuhaus says he thinks a lot of people chose Netanyahu because they felt there was no real opposition. The Likud leader’s main rival, he says, was “not someone who was politically astute” but someone who spent most of his campaign attacking Netanyahu and his wife instead of focusing on a vision for the future of Israeli society…
Asked about the bleak prospects for peace with the Palestinians, Fr Neuhaus says there is a lot of election rhetoric at the moment and Netanyahu is not someone known for his “coherence or consistency”. Secondly, Fr Neuhaus believes that with the Likud leader heading a right-wing government, the international community may be persuaded to step up pressure and support the Israeli opposition in its call for justice and peaceful transformation. The worst scenario, Fr Neuhaus says, would be a national unity government which would leave no valid opposition inside the country.
Fr Neuhaus notes that Israel is very economically dependent on the international community, which must increase all forms of pressure and speak out against “such a situation which is more and more blatantly unjust for a people that has been waiting for decades for recognition of its national rights”….
Fr Neuhaus also believes that Netanyahu is very sensitive to criticism from the United States, though he has recently tried to develop his own base of support by focusing on internal American divisions. Now that the newly re-elected leader has clearly voiced his vision for society, the international community must show that this vision is not shared and that Israel will pay a high price for it…….
Less than a year on from Pope Francis’ visit to the region, Fr Neuhaus says the Pope continues to offer an alternative vision that stands in stark contrast to the views of Netanyahu and his closest allies….
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) As right-wing Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu celebrates his latest election victory, analysts are asking what hopes remain for any peace negotiations with the Palestinians. In the run-up to Tuesday’s vote, the Likud party leader ruled out the creation of a Palestinian state in what he called the current context of rising Islamic extremism…
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(Vatican Radio) As right-wing Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu celebrates his latest election victory, analysts are asking what hopes remain for any peace negotiations with the Palestinians. In the run-up to Tuesday’s vote, the Likud party leader ruled out the creation of a Palestinian state in what he called the current context of rising Islamic extremism…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday received the Cardinal Angelo Amato, SDB, the Prefect for the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, in a private audience. During the audience, the Holy Father authorized the Congregation to promulgate decrees concerning several causes for saints.
Most notably, the Pope has approved a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Louis Martin and Blessed Marie-Azélie Guérin, the parents of St Thérèse of Lisieux.
The Congregation also promulgated decrees of heroic virtue for seven individuals who are on the path to canonization. The Servants of God whose heroic virtues were recognized on Tuesday are:
Fr Francesco Gattola, a diocesan Priest, and Founder of the Congregation of the Suore Figlie della Santissima Vergine Immaculata of Lourdes. He was born in Naples in 1822 and died there in 1899.
Pietro Barbarić, a Jesuit Scholastic, from Bosnia Herzegovina, born 1874, died 1897.
Mary Aikenhead, born in Cork, Ireland, in 1787, the Founder of the Institute of the Religious Sisters of Charity in Ireland. She died in Dublin in 1858.
Elisabetta Baldo, a widow, who founded the Pia Casa di San Giuseppe a Gavardo, and was co-Founder of the Congregation of the Umili Serve del Signore. Born in Italy in 1862; died 1926.
Vincenza of the Passion of the Lord (née Edvige Jaroszewska), Founder of the Congregation of the Benedictine Samaritan Sisters of the Cross of Christ. Born 1900 in Poland; died 1937.
Giovanna of the Cross, a professed religious of the Third Order of Saint Francis. She was Abbess of the Convent of Santa Maria della Croce in Cubas di Madrid. Born in Spain in 1481; died 1534.
And Maria Orsola Bussone, a young laywoman associated with the Focolare Movement in Italy. She was born in 1954, and died in 1970.
With the Pope’s decree, these holy men and women are now referred to as Venerable.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday received the Cardinal Angelo Amato, SDB, the Prefect for the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, in a private audience. During the audience, the Holy Father authorized the Congregation to promulgate decrees concerning several causes for saints. Most notably, the Pope has approved a decree recognizing a miracle attributed…
Read more