(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis will receive in audience on Saturday participants in a conference marking the 5th anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Around 230.000 people were killed and up to 3 million others were affected by the earthquake which struck close to the capital, Port-au-Prince, in January 2010.
Philippa Hitchen reports:
The one day conference entitled “The Communion of the Church: Memory and hope for Haiti 5 years after the earthquake” has been organised by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and Cor Unum in collaboration with the bishops of Haiti. Its aim is to review the reconstruction efforts that have taken place over the past five years and to express the Pope’s ongoing concern for those who continue to suffer as a result of this natural disaster.
Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, head of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, will welcome participants, followed by an introduction from Cardinal Robert Sarah, who as outgoing president of Cor Unum, has been in charge of the Pope’s donations to the people of Haiti. Among those taking part in the conference will be representatives of Catholic charitable organisations and religious institutes working in the island nation, as well as members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See.
Pope Francis will meet with the group at the end of the morning session, while Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin will preside at a Mass marking the close of the conference in the Rome church of Santa Maria in Traspontina.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Four French Imams, who’ve been part of a Catholic-Muslim delegation visiting the Vatican this week, have expressed their shock and condemnation of the attack on the satirical magazine ‘Charlie Hebdo’. Wednesday’s attack by masked gunmen in Paris left 12 people dead, with several others in critical condition.
In a statement at the end of their 3 day visit to Rome, the delegation, which includes Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, urges all believers to combat hatred and all forms of violence which destroy life, violate the dignity of the human person and undermine peaceful coexistence between peoples.
Pope Francis, who met with the delegation just as the attack was taking place, denounced the killings and offered prayers for the victims and their families. Also taking part in the delegation was Bishop Michel Dubost, who heads the French bishops’ council for interfaith relations. Philippa Hitchen talked to him about the Muslim leaders’ reactions to the attack and about the difficulty of promoting interreligious dialogue in France today…
Listen:
Bishop Dubost says it was terrible for the Muslim leaders as it was an attack on democracy which requires freedom of information – even if you don’t agree with that kind of information. He says he was very glad to be with the imams at that moment to show affection and understanding of the difficulties they face.
The Catholic leader says he was impressed with Pope Francis who spoke a little French to each of the imams, speaking to their hearts and asking them to pray for him – as believers, he says, we have a necessity to pray for each other…
Asked whether he was surprised by the attack, Bishop Dubost says people were aware this kind of crime could happen, but what strikes him most is how difficult the national dialogue has become. “We planned our meeting here,” he says, “to show that dialogue is a necessity….and I think interreligious dialogue is a kind of model for society…..if we want to build peace, we have to go and meet people…..who are not of our culture”
Bishop Dubost says he lives in a kind of condominium where all his neighbours are Muslims and there are no problems beyond the usual issues of noisy neighbours, but the difficulty is when people believe Muslims are changing the culture and way of thinking. He gives the example of Muslims not wanting men and women to go to the same swimming pool together, but he says “we have to listen to each other and try to find a way.”
Noting that it takes at least a decade for new immigrants to integrate into society, he says a key problem facing all people today is how to deal with teenagers. While French families may have a grandmother or family figure who listens to the youngsters, many immigrant families have no roots and so are especially vulnerable to the indoctrination they find on the web.
To fight against this kind of evil, Bishop Dubost says it’s vital to have a common project, to help in the education of teenagers and to bring hope, working together for the good of all society.
The Catholic-Muslim delegation included Tareq Oubrou, rector of the Bordeaux mosque, Mohammed Moussaoui, President of the Union of French Mosques, Azzedine Gaci, rector of the mosque in Villeurbanne, and Djelloul Seddiki, director of the Institute of Théologie of Paris’ Grand Mosque.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Bishop Joseph Ponniah is Bishop of Batticaloa in eastern Sri Lanka and he says local Catholics are “thrilled” about Pope Francis’ 3-day visit to the island from January 13th-15th. At the same time, he said many Sri Lankans are hoping to hear a message of reconciliation from the Pope because many wounds from the nation’s long-running civil war have yet to be healed, especially among the minority Tamil community. He spoke to Susy Hodges.
During his visit to Sri Lanka, Pope Francis is due to canonize blessed Joseph Vaz, a 17th century priest from India who played a leading role in building up the island’s Catholic community after years of persecution. Bishop Ponniah expressed his joy about this upcoming canonization of their “local saint,” saying Sri Lankans are hoping to hear from the Pope a message of peace and reconciliation which he said the local people “long for” after so many decades of civil war and “a lot of suffering” during that conflict. He also expressed concern about the impact of the presidential elections, taking place just days before the Pope’s arrival, saying that he feared some people could use this event to stir up “divisions.”
Listen to the full interview with Bishop Joseph Ponniah of Batticaloa in Sri Lanka:
(from Vatican Radio)…
Vatican City, 8 January 2014 (VIS) – This morning the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue published the following declaration: “As we reach the end of the meeting in Rome of the four Imams of France, who attended yesterday’s general audience along with the delegation from the French Episcopal Conference, the participants, shocked by the heinous attack on 7 January 2015 on the offices of the publication “Charlie Hebdo”, wish once more to echo the words pronounced by Pope yesterday and this morning, denouncing this cruelty and blind violence. Like him, we invite believers to show through friendship and prayer their human and spiritual solidarity towards the victims and their families. In these circumstances, it should be noted that, without freedom of speech, the world is in danger: it is imperative to oppose hate and every form of violence that destroys human life, violates the dignity of the person and radically undermines the foundation of peaceful co-existence between persons and peoples, notwithstanding differences of nationality, religion and culture. Religious leaders are called upon to further promote a “culture of peace and hope” able to conquer fear and to build bridges between people. Considering the impact of the media, their leaders are invited to offer information that is respectful of religions, their followers and their practices, thus favouring a culture of encounter. Interreligious dialogue remains the only path to follow together to dissipate prejudice”. The communique is signed by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Bishop Michel Dubost of Evry-Corbeil et Essonnes, president of the Council for Interreligious Relations of the Bishops’ Conference of France, the Imams Tareq Oubrou, Azzedine Cami, Mohammed Moussaoui, Djelloul Seddiki and Fr. Roucou, director of the National Service for Relations with Islam, France….
Vatican City, 8 January 2014 (VIS) – This morning the Holy Father received in audience a delegation from the World Community of Yezidi, according to the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J. The delegation was led by the Head of all the Yezidi, Mir Tahsin Said Ali Beg, and their supreme spiritual Head, the “Baba Sheikh”, Sheikh Khato, both resident in Iraqi Kurdistan. The group also comprised three representatives of the Yezidi of North Iraq, Georgia and the diaspora in Germany.
During the meeting, which lasted approximately half an hour and took place in the private library of the Apostolic Palace, the delegation thanked the Pope – indicated by one of the delegates as the “father of the poor” –for his support for the Yezidi in this time of persecution and suffering. They informed the Pope of the situation of around five thousand Yezidi women reduced to slavery by the ISIS, and emphasised the good relations between Yezidi and Christians, emphasising their mutual solidarity. Pope Francis assured the delegates of his spiritual closeness and his support in these challenging times, and expressed his hope that soon it will be possible to restore justice and the conditions for a free and peaceful life for the Yezidi, as well as all other minority groups who are the object of discrimination and violence.
There are around one and a half million Yezidi throughout the world, of whom half a million are in Iraq; there are others in Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, and in diaspora in many other countries.
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