Case dismissed, but Afghan Christian convert still faces danger, seeks foreign asylum
Kabul, Afghanistan, Mar 28, 2006 (CNA) -
Although Abdul Rahman, an Afghan man who faced death for
converting from Islam to Christianity was released from prison on a
technicality this week, his faith still puts him in danger in his home
country. The United Nations announced Monday that he has appealed for
foreign asylum.
According
to the Associated Press, Adrian Edwards, a U.N. spokesman said the
world body was working with the Afghan government to meet Rahman’s
request.
"Mr.
Rahman”, he said, “has asked for asylum outside Afghanistan…We expect
this will be provided by one of the countries interested in a peaceful
solution to this case."
Numerous
countries, including Italy, Germany, the U.S. and the Vatican had
heavily criticized Afghanistan for the case and appealed for the
release of the 41-year-old. Under that countries Islamic Sharia
Law,converting away from Islam is an offense punishable by death.
Although
Rahman’s case was dismissed because of a lack of evidence, many charge
that Afghanistan needs to change what they see as a horrendously unjust
law. Massive protests erupted yesterday in the northern Afghan city of
Mazar-i-Sharif over the case’s dismissal.
Rahman
is currently being held in Kabul at the high-security Policharki
prison. He was reportedly moved there because of continuous threats
from other inmates.
The
Associated Press also reported that some Muslim clerics have threatened
to incite Afghans to kill Rahman if he is released, charging that he is
guilty of apostasy and deserves to die.
The Afghan government has not released details of Rahman’s release.
Italy is the first country to have offered asylum today, but other countries are expected to follow.
Vatican, world’s faithful prepare for one-year anniversary of John Paul II’s death
Vatican City, Mar 28, 2006 (CNA) - Throngs
of pilgrims are expected to gather in Rome this weekend as the Vatican
prepares to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the death of Pope
John Paul II. Events planned by the Holy See will commemorate the life
of a man many are already calling “John Paul the Great.”
The Holy See has announced that they will mark the occasion with a Sunday rosary and vigil, followed by Mass on Monday.
Sunday’s rosary
will be part of a vigil slated to begin at 8:30 p.m. in St. Peter’s
Square with singing led by the choir of the diocese of Rome. At
9:37 p.m.--the exact time that the late Pope passed on, Pope Benedict
XVI will address the crowd from his study window, pronounce a prayer
and conclude with his Apostolic blessing.
Then, on Monday, the Holy Father will preside at a 5:30 p.m. Mass in St. Peter’s Square.
Similar
memorials and days of prayer are being planned worldwide to commemorate
the pontiff’s death. It was said that John Paul was seen in person by
more people than anyone else in history.
Last week,
Parliament in the late Pope’s home country of Poland passed a
resolution expressing its “immense gratitude” to John Paul. Politicians
stood and applauded as the country’s lower house unanimously passed the
resolution.
Immigration expert Bishop DiMarzio calls on faithful to reject any immoral immigration laws
Brooklyn, N.Y., Mar 28, 2006 (CNA) - As
the U.S. Senate continues to inch closer to a comprehensive overhaul of
the country’s immigration system, as many Catholic bishops have urged,
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio is warning that faithful need to keep a
watchful eye and reject any immoral reform that does not respect the
dignity of the human person.
Bishop DiMarzio,
head of the Diocese of Brooklyn and a long time consultant to the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops on the subject of immigration, said in
his regular column, published Monday, that true reform must be
comprehensive, addressing the reasons why people need to come to the
U.S. in the first place; must provide a pathway for people to
regularize “and come out of the shadows”; and it must aim to protect
families, workers and national security alike.
On Monday, a big
step toward compromise and reform came as the Senate Judiciary panel
sent a bill to the full Senate which would allow many of the nation’s
11 million undocumented immigrants to be granted legal status provided
they pay back taxes, hold jobs and pass criminal background checks.
Experts still wonder however, if the bill will make it through the Senate, with politicians on all sides sharply divided.
In his column,
published in the Tablet newspaper, Bishop DiMarzio said that “It is
time to recognize that immigration is a moral issue, calling forth
from all of us that basic American value of respect for the dignity of
each human person.”
“As religious
people,” he said, “we know that this respect is generated by the belief
that each person is created in the image of God our Creator, no matter
in which country they were born, or how they may have crossed a border
to the place they now call home.”
Bishop DiMarzio
added that “It is because we believe that immigration is a moral issue,
[that] we bishops have a duty to teach and to call for adherence to our
teaching, even if this adherence might lead people to challenge
provisions of particular laws.”
Referring to a
resolution recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives which
mirrors many currently on the table in individual states, he
specifically affirmed that “there will never be a time when priests,
religious and dedicated laypeople whose ministry and service is among
immigrants will ever be forced to limit the Church’s outreach and care
because of the contents of a person’s passport.”
“The ‘passport’
of people of faith”, he pointed out, “comes directly from the Sacred
Scriptures, which commands us to respect and care for the alien and the
newcomer because they are brothers and sisters to all.”
Saying that
undocumented immigrants must cease to be scapegoat as “terrorists” the
bishop wrote that “The provisions of [the proposed House bill] calls
forth the worst in people and will not fix our broken immigration
system or make our country any safer.”
Bishop
DiMarzio’s words echo that of numerous other bishops including Denver’s
Charles Chaput, who has repeatedly called for just, comprehensive
immigration reform. The two appeared together two weeks ago during an
immigration forum at Denver’s Living the Catholic Faith Conference.
A step closer to Sainthood? Another John Paul II miracle reported in United States
Rome, Italy, Mar 28, 2006 (CNA) - Father
Slawomir Oder, the Vatican official overseeing the cause for the
canonization of Pope John Paul II, announced this week that he has
received reports of another possible miracle attributed to the late
Pontiff, this time in the United States.
During an
interview with the Italian radio network RAI, Father Oder said the
alleged miracle was the healing of a man suffering from an incurable
liver infection. The priest who had been visiting the sick man
communicated news of the alleged healing to Father Oder.
“So far the
incident has not yet been proven, and we cannot officially call it a
‘miracle’ until we reach the end of the confirmation process,” he
explained.
The Diocese of Rome officially announced the cause of beatification of John Paul II on June 28, 2005.
Vatican seminar to explore Catholic influence on European higher education
Vatican City, Mar 28, 2006 (CNA) - The
Vatican has announced that it will host a seminar to explore the
Bologna Process and its relationship to Catholic higher education this
week. The Seminar is being organized by the Holy See’s Congregation for
Higher Education along with the European Union’s UNESCO-CEPES
organization.
The Bologna
Process, named for its origins at the University of Bologna, began in
1998 when government education leaders from Germany, France, Italy and
Great Britain gathered to create what they called “a European space for
higher education.”
The process of
harmonizing European education began on the 700th anniversary of the
founding of Paris’s University of the Sorbonne.
In 1999, leaders
from 29 European nations signed a political declaration of shared
higher educational goals in the Italian city of Bologna.
On Thursday, the
Vatican will host a press conference which is slated to be attended by
Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic
Education, Archbishop Michael J. Miller C.S.B. and Msgr. Angelo
Vincenzo Zani, respectively secretary and under-secretary of the same
congregation. In addition, Jan Sadlak, director of UNESCO-CEPES will
also be on hand.
The seminar itself will be held in the Vatican’s New Synod Hall from March 30th to April 1st.
Canadian churches take hard look at racial justice
Ottawa, Canada, Mar 28, 2006 (CNA) - Canadian
churches wrapped up their first Racial Justice Week, an event intended
to encourage churches in their efforts to undo racism in their local
communities. The week ran from March 19 to 26.
Churches were
invited to make use of a kit, created by the Ecumenical Anti-Racism
Network, focused on the theme "God so loved the people of the world"
(John 3:16). The title of this resource comes from the Chinese Kuo-yu
Bible, an ecumenical translation done in the 1930s and still in use in
most Chinese congregations.
This network is
an expression of Canadian churches working together to support
anti-racism programs, and involves member-churches of the Canadian
Council of Churches (CCC). The kit is the result of five years of
learning, reflecting and acting together in the Canadian Ecumenical
Anti-Racism Network.
The CCC is the
largest ecumenical body in Canada, representing 20 churches of
Anglican, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Protestant and Roman Catholic
traditions. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) is
representing the Catholic Church.
"God so loved
the people of the world" is a pilot project. More information on this
initiative is available at:
http://www.ccc-cce.ca/english/justice/racism.htm
Archbishop says government officials who support abortion are negligent in their duties
Madrid, Spain, Mar 28, 2006 (CNA) - In
his weekly pastoral letter, Archbishop Braulio Rodriguez Plaza of
Valladolid, Spain, has denounced Spanish governmental officials who
support abortion, saying their negligence has prevented thousands of
citizens from being born.
In his letter,
the archbishop recalled the “chilling number of 85,000 abortions in
Spain in 2004,” which he blamed on the State for failing “to protect
and look after the physical integrity of its citizens.”
Christians
reject abortion, he said, not only for religious reasons, but also
because “logically it is incomprehensible.” He rejected the idea
that acceptance of abortion is a sign of social progress. “It’s
not a question of legality, or of social progress, but of respect for
life,” he added.
Archbishop
Rodriguez Plaza also reached out to women who have had abortions
because of “pressure from society or a lack of alternatives,” saying he
wished to convey to them a “message of hope,” and he expressed his
support for crisis pregnancy centers that “provide pregnant women with
alternatives.”
Likewise, the
archbishop criticized a newly passed law in Spain on assisted
reproduction, which he said “shows no respect whatsoever for the
embryo, and even goes so far as to employ the unscientific concept of
pre-embryo.” Echoing the words of Pope Benedict XVI to the
members of the Pontifical Academy of Life, he said, “The Bible
expresses love for each human being, even before he is formed in his
mother’s womb.”
“The love of God
for all human beings is already present at the beginning of the life of
the embryo before it is implanted in the womb of its mother,” the
archbishop stated.
Vatican official expresses concern about proposed US immigration reform
Mexico City, Mexico, Mar 28, 2006 (CNA) - The
chancellor of the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences, Msgr. Marcelo
Sanchez Sorondo, said this week that the Holy See is concerned about
legislation on immigration reform currently before the US Senate which
includes proposals to build a wall on the US/Mexican border and to make
it a crime to help illegal aliens.
Speaking to
reporters, Msgr. Sanchez said, “All peoples have been immigrants” and
immigration is “one of the characteristics of globalization.”
Likewise, he defended the right and freedom of movement of the 400
million immigrants around the world. He said that closing the
doors to them goes “against the natural order (and) against the
Christian order.”
He said he did
not intend his comments to be “a statement against a law,” but
emphasized that “man has the right to immigrate and communities and
nations have the right to receive those who immigrate and the right to
establish certain norms.”
Msgr. Sanchez
added warned against allowing immigration to “become clandestine”
because that would mean a further trampling of human rights.
Salvadoran prelate: new statements by former military commander could shed new light on Archbishop Romero assassination
San Salvador, El Salvador, Mar 28, 2006 (CNA) - Archbishop
Fernando Saenz Lacalle of San Salvador expressed his hope this week
that statements by former military captain Alvaro Saravia would shed
new light on the 1980 assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero.
Speaking to
reporters, Archbishop Lacalle said, “History has its rights and sooner
or later all of the events and details are going to be made
known. Perhaps these statements by Captain Saravia can shed light
and provide interesting information.”
Saravia, who was
ordered to pay $10 million in reparation to the family members of the
slain archbishop, said recently he would ask the Church for forgiveness
for the assassination and that he would reveal the names of other
individuals who were involved in the killing.
At the same
time, Archbishop Lacalle said the person of Archbishop Romero should
not be politicized because that would affect his cause for
canonization. “All of us have the opportunity to contribute
positively to advancing” the cause, he added, noting that it falls to
the Holy See to determine if Archbishop Romero is a martyr.
“It is a
delicate matter,” he continued, “because martyrdom means being killed
out of hatred for the faith or the Church and not for political
reasons.”
Archbishop
Lacalle noted that a “fundamental fact” in Romero’s cause is that “he
died as a priest celebrating Mass,” which he called a special favor
from God, and he underscored that the Congregation for the Causes of
the Saints has examined his writings and has declared them to be
faithful to the teachings of the Church.
Archbishop Oscar Romero was killed on March 24, 1980, while celebrating Mass at a hospital chapel.
New bishop named for northern Canada mission diocese
Vatican City, Mar 28, 2006 (CNA) - A
diocese in the Canadian North has a new bishop. Pope Benedict XVI named
Archbishop Sylvain Lavoie to succeed Archbishop Peter Sutton for the
Diocese of Keewatin-Le Pas. The pope accepted the resignation of
Archbishop Sutton, 71, who has been living with illness for some time.
The announcement was made March 25.
Archbishop
Lavoie was named coadjutor in July 2005. Both clerics were ordained for
the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and like many Oblates before them, have
spent their lives serving the people of the Catholic missions in
Canada’s Great North.
Archbishop
Lavoie was born 1947 in Delmas, Sask. After joining the Oblates of Mary
Immaculate and studying philosophy and theology at St. Charles
Scholasticate, Battleford, Sask., he was ordained to the priesthood in
1974. He later became Provincial Superior and Consultor of his
religious community and worked in a number of parishes in the
Archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas, which includes the northern parts of
Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Archbishop
Lavoie is currently a member of the Episcopal Commission for the
Evangelization of Peoples, of the Canadian Conference of Catholic
Bishops.
Archbishop
Sutton was born in Chandler, Quebec, in 1934. He was ordained to the
priesthood in 1960. In 1974, he was ordained as bishop of Labrador
City-Schefferville., He was named coadjutor archbishop of Keewatin-Le
Pas in February 1986. In November of that same year, he was named
archbishop.
Archbishop
Sutton served on a number of CCCB commissions, including the
commissions for social affairs, Christian education and the
evangelization of peoples. He was also national spiritual adviser with
the Catholic Women’s League of Canada.
The Archdiocese
of Keewatin-Le Pas has a Catholic population of 37,000 in 48 parishes
and missions, served by 16 diocesan and religious order priests, nine
religious sisters and brothers and 13 lay pastoral assistants.
