(Vatican Radio) A 2-day seminar focusing on the contribution of science, culture, politics and technology in improving water and sanitation management came to a close on Friday in the Vatican.
The workshop organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences was entitled “The human right to water: An interdisciplinary focus and contributions on the central role of public policies in water and sanitation management”.
Present at the seminar Cardinal Peter Turkso n, President of the new Vatican office for Integral Human Development, said policies for a just and fair water management are urgently needed in the quest for greater social justice and solidarity.
Speaking to Vatican Radio, he said the seminar is a precious occasion to push for good water management policies:
Listen :
Cardinal Turkson said the meeting is important because it provides an occasion to draw attention to the fact there is still no formulation regarding access to water in terms of it being a ‘right’.
He said it is high time to do that pointing out that it is general knowledge that without water human life is not possible.
He mentions the crisis situations of famine which have been declared in various parts of the world because rain patterns have failed coupled with the fact that there are populations who simply do not have access to water.
Turkson expressed his hope that proposals coming out of the Vatican seminar will reach the ears of world authorities who have to find ways to draw up good water management policies.
“We have the technology these days to make water drinkable and to grow crops in tough conditions, for example through drip irrigation” he said.
Turkson also decried the waste of water and the fact that so many take water for granted.
He said we have the responsibility to stop famine or other injustices through a legislation that guarantees access to clean water: “that would be the greatest thing we can do for our world”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Office of Papal Charities this week helped out the earthquake-hit regions of central Italy at the express wish of Pope Francis, buying typical food products from local producers and distributing it to several soup kitchens in Rome.
Central Italy was hit by a powerful 6.3 magnitude quake in August 2016, which killed nearly 300 people. Other earthquakes have since caused major damage to the area.
Farmers and merchants in the affected areas have since suffered a drastic reduction in their revenues.
A communique from the Office of Papal Charities said the organization selected “several groups of farmers and producers at risk of closure because of the damages provoked by the earthquake” from which to buy alimentary products.
It said vendors were chosen in conjunction with Bishop Domenico Pompili of Rieti, Bishop Giovanni D’Ercole of Ascoli Piceno, Archbishop Francesco Giovanni Brugnaro of Camerino-San Severino Marche, and Archbishop Renato Boccardo of Spoleto-Norcia.
“The Office of Papal Charities bought a large quantity of their products with the intention, expressed by the Holy Father, to help and encourage them in their activities. It is a gesture in line with the Magisterium of Pope Francis, who in his meetings has often said that ‘when a person does not earn their bread, their dignity is lost’”.
The food products bought in the name of the Pope were distributed to several soup kitchens in Rome to make meals for homeless people in need.
The Vatican supermarket currently sells products from the earthquake hit zones of central Italy , in an effort to help out the local economy.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) A 2-day seminar aiming to propose much needed public policies for water and sanitation management is underway in the Vatican .
Organized by the Vatican Pontifical Academy of Sciences , the seminar is entitled “The human right to water: An interdisciplinary focus and contributions on the central role of public policies in water and sanitation management”.
The workshop focuses on the potential and effective contribution of science, culture, politics and technological advancements to the attainment of a fairer world of greater social justice and solidarity.
One of the participants, Father Peter Hughes , a missionary priest who has spent his life working in the Amazon region, pointed out that water management impacts many issues including peace and the prevention of conflicts.
Listen :
Father Peter Hughes, who has worked all his life in Peru, in the Andes and in the Amazon explains he is currently involved in a new project in defense of the Amazon region – the Pan Amazon – which comprises nine geographical countries.
“We are very much aware that the life of the Amazon is now in real danger; the life of so many indigenous communities, their lands that are being taken over and destroyed by the onslaught of mining and oil companies and the destruction of the rainforest for the so-called timber industry” he said.
Hughes says all this is also to be taken into consideration in relation to the question of climate.
He says the destruction and the depredation of the Amazon is destroying the equilibrium of world climate.
“One fifth of the world’s water supply comes from the Amazon; another fifth of the drinking water of the world comes from the Amazon, and it’s now true to say that twenty percent of the Amazon has now been irrevocably destroyed. So the question is: can we, the human family, have the political will to stop the accelerated rate of destruction?” he said.
If not, he says, we are in deeper trouble.
Regarding the Vatican seminar which focuses on water, Hughes says everybody is aware that “the bottom line of life in all its manifestations is the need for water”
He said the need for water has become crucial in a world where water not only is scarce, “but is being denied as a human right, as a basic right for life to too many people”.
Hughes says this is due to a number of factors, one of which is that water has been transformed into something with market value.
“This takes away from water as something that has something to do with a fundamental human right and the common good” he said.
He pointed out that it is increasingly a subject of conflict and violence between peoples and between nations.
He says neighboring communities who have lived in relative peace and harmony over the ages are now, because of the scarcity of water, are entering conflictual relationships.
“These are some of the questions we are trying to address, he said, pointing out that water has to do with politics, with economics, with culture, with education.”
It is also a very sacred issue, Hughes concludes: “the religious dimension in relation to water is founded in all the great religious traditions, particularly in the Christian and Catholic tradition that a lot of us come from and a lot of are engaged in”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received his long-time friend from his native Argentina, Rabbi Abraham Skorka, on Thursday, along with a delegation of Jewish leaders involved in the preparation of a new edition of the Torah.
The annotated, illustrated edition is already being hailed as an achievement in both the literary and visual arts.
Pope Francis told his guests, “The extensive introduction to the text and the editor’s note emphasize this dialogical approach and communicate a cultural vision of openness, mutual respect and peace that accords with the spiritual message of the Torah.”
Click below to hear our report
The Holy Father went on to say, “The important religious figures who have worked on this new edition have paid special attention both to the literary aspect of the text and to the full-colour illustrations that add further value to the publication.”
Also in his remarks, Pope Francis spoke of the Torah as a building-block of community – the worldwide Jewish community and the Christian community. “The Torah,” said the Holy Father, “manifests the paternal and visceral love of God, a love shown in words and concrete gestures, a love that becomes covenant.”
“The very word covenant is resonant with associations that bring us together,” and, “[t]his publication is itself the fruit of a ‘covenant’ between persons of different nationalities, ages and religious confessions, who joined in this common effort.”
The Pope went on to say, “God desires a world in which men and women are bound to him and as a result live in harmony among themselves and with creation. In the midst of so many human words that lead to tragic division and rivalry, these divine words of covenant open before all of us paths of goodness to walk together.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday received a group of Rabbis led by Rabbi Abraham Skorka – the Holy Father’s long-time friend from his native Argentina – on the occasion of their presentation to him of a new edition of the Torah. Below, please find the full text of Pope Francis’ remarks, in their official English translation…
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Greeting of His Holiness Pope Francis
to a Delegation of Jewish Leaders
for the Presentation of a New Edition of the Torah
23 February 2017
Dear Friends,
I offer a warm welcome to all of you, who have come to present me with a new and precious edition of the Torah. I thank Rabbi Abraham Skorka, brother and friend, for his kind words, and I am very grateful to all of you for this thoughtful gesture, which brings us together today around the Torah as the Lord’s gift, his revelation, his word.
The Torah, which Saint John Paul II called “the living teaching of the living God” ( Address for the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Declaration “Nostra Aetate” , 6 December 1990, 3), manifests the paternal and visceral love of God, a love shown in words and concrete gestures, a love that becomes covenant. The very word covenant is resonant with associations that bring us together. God is the greatest and most faithful covenantal partner. He called Abraham in order to form from him a people who would become a blessing for all peoples of the earth. God desires a world in which men and women are bound to him and as a result live in harmony among themselves and with creation. In the midst of so many human words that lead to tragic division and rivalry, these divine words of covenant open before all of us paths of goodness to walk together. This publication is itself the fruit of a “covenant” between persons of different nationalities, ages and religious confessions, who joined in this common effort.
The fraternal and institutional dialogue between Jews and Christians is now well-established and effective, made so by encounters that are ongoing and collaborative. The gift that you are making to me today is fully a part of this dialogue, which finds expression not only in words but also in gestures. The extensive introduction to the text and the editor’s note emphasize this dialogical approach and communicate a cultural vision of openness, mutual respect and peace that accords with the spiritual message of the Torah. The important religious figures who have worked on this new edition have paid special attention both to the literary aspect of the text and to the full-colour illustrations that add further value to the publication.
Every edition of sacred Scripture, however, possesses a spiritual value that infinitely surpasses its material value. I ask God to bless all those who contributed to this work and, in a particular way, to bless all of you, to whom I renew my personal gratitude. Thank you.
(from Vatican Radio)…