(Vatican Radio) The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (PASS) says it’s outrageous that there is no shared EU responsibility for the refugees trying to reach Italy. The Academy also said there is an urgent need to set up a world anti-trafficking agency. The comments came at a press conference held in the Vatican by leading members of PASS at the end of their 5-day plenary meeting whose theme was “Human Trafficking: Issues Beyond Criminalization.
Human trafficking is a huge global phenomenon that is worth a staggering 150 billion dollars and experts say the age of the trafficked victims is getting younger and younger. The President of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences is Margaret Archer who told journalists that the PASS members discussed how to prevent the crime of human trafficking, by tackling the twin issues of supply and demand for sex workers and forced labour. She spoke to Susy Hodges.
Listen to the interview with Professor Margaret Archer, President of PASS:
Asked about what steps need to be taken to reduce demand for prostitutes and forced labourers, Archer said there’s a need to embark on a process in which the clients of brothels and the companies using forced labour become socially stigmatized by harnessing the power of the social media such as Facebook to spread messages against these practices, especially among the young and students in schools. She compared it to the successful actions which have been taken against smokers and especially the ban on smoking in public places over the past decades which have led to a sweeping change in behaviour.
“We can send out messages that using prostitutes isn’t cool and…. that “it messes up your cool image.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis today said that “ours is a Church of martyrs”.
Speaking during morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta the Pope recalled the many Christians who are currently being persecuted and killed for their faith.
Drawing inspiration from the First Reading of the Act of the Apostles which tells of the stoning and martyrdom of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, the Pope remembered “our brothers whose throats have been slit on the beaches of Libya”, he spoke of “the young boy who was burnt alive by his companions because he was Christian”, he recalled “the migrants who were thrown from their boat into open sea” because, they too, were Christians.
Martyrs – Pope Francis said – do not need “other bread”, their only bread is Jesus, and Stephen – he explained – did not have the need to negotiate or find a compromise with those who put him to death.
And reflecting on the reading the Pope pointed out that Stephen’s witness was such that his persecutors ‘covered their ears and rushed upon him together.’
Just like Jesus – he explained – Stephen had to deal with false witnesses and the anger of the people. Stephen – he said – reminded the elders and the scribes that their ancestors had persecuted other prophets for having been true to God’s Word, and when he described his vision of the heavens opening “and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” they did not want to listen but threw him out of the city and began to stone him:
“God’s Word is always rejected by some. God’s Word is inconvenient when you have a stone heart, when you have a pagan heart, because God’s Word asks you to go ahead trying to satisfy your hunger with the bread which Jesus spoke of. In the history of the Revelation many martyrs have been killed for their faith and loyalty towards God’s Word, God’s Truth”.
Pope Francis continued comparing the martyrdom of Stephen to that of Jesus: he too “died with that Christian magnanimity of forgiveness, praying for his enemies’.
And those who persecuted the prophets – the Pope pointed out – believed they were giving glory to God; they thought they were being true to God’s doctrine.
“Today – the Pope said – I would like to remember that the true history of the Church is that of the Saints and the martyrs,” of so many who were persecuted and killed by those who thought they possessed the ‘truth’- whose heart was corrupted by ‘truth’:
“In these days how many Stephens there are in the world! Let us think of our brothers whose throats were slit on the beach in Libya; let’s think of the young boy who was burnt alive by his companions because he was a Christian; let us think of those migrants thrown from their boat into the open sea by other migrants because they were Christians; let us think – just the day before yesterday – of those Ethiopians assassinated because they were Christians… and of many others. Many others of whom we do not even know and who are suffering in jails because they are Christians… The Church today is a Church of martyrs: they suffer, they give their lives and we receive the blessing of God for their witness”.
The Pope also pointed out that there are also many “hidden martyrs: those men and women who are faithful to the voice of the Spirit and who are searching for new ways and paths to help their brothers better love God”.
He said they are often viewed with suspicion, vilified and persecuted by so many modern ‘Sanhedrins’ who think they are the possessors of truth.
(from Vatican Radio)…
In a message sent to H.H.
Abune
Mathias, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Church, Pope Francis expressed “consternation and sorrow” for the countless
events of “shocking violence perpetrated against innocent Christians in Libya”,
following the dissemination of a video which showed the barbaric killing of 28
Ethiopian Coptic Christians. “I know that your
Holiness is suffering deeply in heart and mind, in view of your faithful,
killed for the sole reason of being followers of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. I address my heartfelt spiritual solidarity to you, to assure you of my
closeness in prayer amid the ongoing martyrdom being inflicted in so cruel a
manner upon Christians in Africa, in the Middle East and in some regions of
Asia”, Francis wrote. “It makes no
difference”, he continued, “whether the victims are Catholic, Copt, Orthodox or
Protestant. Their blood is one and the same in their confession of Christ! The
blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out to
make itself heard by all those who still know how to distinguish between good
and evil”. And this cry, he added, “must be heard above all by those who hold
the fate of the peoples in their hands” Recalling that “in this period we are filled with the
Easter joy of the disciples to whom the women hastened to proclaim that “Christ
has risen from the dead”, the Pontiff acknowledged that “this year, our joy,
which never fails, is eclipsed by profound sadness”. Yet, he affirmed “we know
that the life we live in the merciful love of God is stronger than the sorrow
that all Christians are feeling, a sorrow shared by men and women of good will
in all religious traditions. During the Mass celebrated at Santa Marta on Tuesday morning, 21 April, Pope
Francisrepeated that “today the Church
is the Church of martyrs”, addressing a thought to “the Ethiopians assassinated
for being Christians” and to all believers who in various parts of the world
are victims of violence and persecution. Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of
the Congregation for the Eastern Churches also spoke of “martyrs”, condemning
themost recent event of chilling
jihadist violence….
“Today the
Church is the Church of martyrs”. And among these martyrs are “our brothers
whose throats were cut on the beach of Libya; that young man burned alive by
companions for being a Christian; those immigrants on the high seas thrown
overboard for being Christians; those Ethiopians assassinated for being
Christians”. In the chapel of Casa Santa Marta on Friday morning, 21 April,
recounting the story of the first martyr, St Stephen, Pope Francis recalled the
many present-day martyrs: including those whose names we do not know, who are
suffering in prisons or who are defamed and persecuted “by so many modern
Sanhedrins”, or for living “the faith within their own family”. The Pontiff began his homily by
pointing out what all martyrs have in common: they are those “who in the
history of the Church bore testimony of Jesus” without having “need of other
bread: for them Jesus alone was enough, because they had faith in Jesus”. And,
Francis said, “today, the Church makes us reflect and offers us, in the Liturgy
of the Word, the first Christian martyr”, in the Acts of the Apostles, which
speak of St Stephen (7:51-8:1a). “This man did not hunger, he did not
need to turn to negotiations, to compromises with other types of bread, to
survive”, the Pope stated. With this manner “he testified of Jesus” until his
martyrdom. Referring to the previous day’s Liturgy of the Word, Pope Francis
recalled that “yesterday the Church began speaking about him: several‘Freedmen’ of the Synagogue, arose and began
to dispute with Stephen but they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit
with which he spoke”. In fact, the Pope explained, “Stephen was full of the
Holy Spirit and spoke with the wisdom of the Spirit: he was powerful”. And thus
these people “instigated a few men to say that they heard him speak blasphemous
words against Moses and against God, and gave false testimony”. With these
accusations “they stirred up the people, the elders, the scribes: they came
upon him, they seized him and brought him before the Sanhedrin”. The Pope pointed out that “the story
of Stephen” is “curious” in that it follows “the same steps as that of Jesus”,
meaning the tactics of “false witnesses” were used in order to “stir up the
people and bring him to judgement. Today we heard how this story ends, because
in the Sanhedrin, Stephen explains the Gospel of Jesus, he gives a long
explanation”. However, his accusers “didn’t want to listen, their hearts were
closed”. Thus, “in the end, Stephen, with the power of the Spirit, tells them
the truth: ‘You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears’ — pagans,
in other words — ‘you always resist the Holy Spirit’”. “One of the characteristics of
stiff-necked people before the word of God” is “resistance to the Holy Spirit”,
the Pope explained, repeating the words of St Stephen: “As your fathers did, so
do you. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute?”. Thus, Stephen
“recalled many prophets who had been persecuted and killed for being faithful
to the word of God”. Then, “when he confessed his vision of Jesus, which God
showed him at that moment”, and as Stephen was “full of the Holy Spirit, they
were scandalized and cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears”. This,
the Pope said, was a “real sign” that “they didn’t want to listen”. And thus,
“they rushed together upon him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned
him”. This has always been “the story of
martyrs”, even “those of the Old Testament, about whom St Stephen was speaking
in the Sanhedrin”. The problem is that “certain hearts never like the word of
God; the word of God is bothersome when you have a hardened heart, when you
have a pagan heart, because the word of God challenges you to go forth,
searching and being fed with that bread that Jesus spoke of”. “In the history of the revelation”,
Francis affirmed, there are “so many martyrs who were killed on account of
faithfulness to the word of God, to the truth of God”. Thus “Stephen’s
martyrdom really resembles Jesus’ sacrifice”. And as they stoned him, Stephen
prayed, saying: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”. How can one forget Jesus’
words on the Cross: “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit”? Then, the Acts
of the Apostles tell us that Stephen “knelt down and cried with a loud voice,
‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’”. Again, Jesus said: “Father, forgive
them; for they know not what they do’”. Here is “that Christian magnanimity of
forgiveness, of praying for the enemy”. However, of “those who persecuted
the prophets, those who persecuted and killed Stephen and so many martyrs”,
Jesus said that “they believed they were giving glory to God, they believed”
that in doing so they were being “faithful to God’s teaching”. And, the Pope
said, “today I would like to recall that the history of the Church, the true
history of the Church, is the history of saints and martyrs: the persecuted
martyrs” and also the many who are “killed by those who believe they are
glorifying God, by those who believe they have the truth: corrupt hearts, but
the truth”. Even today, “how many ‘Stephens’
there are in the world!’”, the Pope exclaimed. He referred to recent accounts
of persecution: “Let us think of our brothers whose throats were cut on the
beach in Libya; let us think of that young man burned alive by companions for
being a Christian; let us think of those immigrants on the high seas who were
thrown overboard by the others for being Christians; let us think — the day
before yesterday — of those Ethiopians, assassinated for being Christians”. And
still, he added, “so many others that we don’t know, who suffer in prisons
because they are Christians”. Today, Francis continued, “the
Church is the Church of martyrs: they suffer, they give their lives, and we
receive God’s blessing through their testimony”. And then, “there are also
hidden martyrs, those men and women, faithful to the power of the Holy Spirit,
to the voice of the Spirit, who make way, who seek new ways to help their
brothers and sisters and to better love God”. And for this reason they “come
under suspicion”, they are “defamed, persecuted by so many modern Sanhedrins
who believe themselves masters of the the truth”. Today, the Pontiff stated,
there are “so many hidden martyrs”, and among them are many “who, for being faithful,
suffer greatly within their families,for their faithfulness”. “Our Church is the Church of
martyrs” Francis reiterated, before returning to the celebration of Mass during
which he said “the ‘first martyr’ will come to us, the first who bore witness
and, even more, salvation to all of us”. Thus, the Pope exhorted, “let us unite
with Jesus in the Eucharist, and let us unite with so many brothers and sisters
who are suffering the martyrdom of being persecuted, defamed and killed for
being faithful to the one bread that satiates, namely to Jesus”….
(Vatican Radio) The chairman of the Department of International Affairs in the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has called for solidarity with Christians in the Middle East and North Africa region. “Once more, it is with a sense of deep sadness and grief that we mourn the deaths of innocent Ethiopian Christian workers who were killed with such impunity by Daesh (ISIS) in Libya,” said Bishop Declan Lang, after hearing the news of the murder of innocent Ethiopian Christian workers in Libya. “Our sorrow can easily spill into anger when thinking of the mounting number of victims of such men who clothe their actions with religion while murdering civilians across the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA),” he said. “Daesh (ISIS) strategy is two-fold – on the one hand, they and their followers are executing their own warped version of Islam, on the other, they are trying – desperately in some cases – to enrage world opinion so that our reactions of anger and retribution would justify in their own minds their heinous crimes and lead to further deaths and executions,” continued Bishop Lang. “Today, we pray for the repose of the souls of those innocent victims just as we prayed for the Coptic Christians who were killed in Libya too. We also pray for the families of those men who now have to cope not only with the loss of their loved ones, but also the loss of any economic support,” he added. “Our Christian faith encourages us to stand in solidarity with all those vulnerable peoples and communities across the MENA that spurn merciless and ungodly ideologies,” concluded Bishop Lang. “We therefore also join our prayers to those of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and beseech the Almighty that He will show the killers the way of peace and reconciliation.” (from Vatican Radio)…