December, 2019
Proclaim the Gospel in every language, in every land, pope tells Filipinos
December 19, 2019 · By Cindy Wooden for cruxnow.com
ROME – “Continue being ‘smugglers’ of the faith,” Pope Francis told thousands of Filipino migrants living and working in Italy. Starting the Italian Filipino community’s “Simbang Gabi,” a novena of nighttime or pre-dawn Masses in preparation for Christmas, the pope praised the community for not only keeping their faith alive, but for enlivening the faith […]
Read More...Mindanao rights group welcomes lifting of martial law
December 19, 2019 · By Joe Torres, Manila for www.ucanews.org
A human rights group in the southern Philippines has welcomed a government statement announcing the imminent lifting of martial law across Mindanao, but it called for an international probe into alleged atrocities committed by the military while it has been in force. The group Barug Katungod (Stand for Rights) said two and a half years […]
Read More...Aung San Suu Kyi tells court: Myanmar genocide claims ‘factually misleading’
December 18, 2019 · By Owen Bowcott in The Hague for www.theguardian.com
The Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has defended Myanmar’s government against accusations of genocide at the international court of justice, calling the allegations an “incomplete and misleading factual picture of the situation”. Addressing a bench of 17 judges from around the world, the 74-year-old leader dismissed reports of state violence against Rohingya Muslims and blamed the […]
Read More...Philippine church leaders make environmental plea on Human Rights Day
December 18, 2019 · By www.cbcplaiko.org
Church leaders in the Philippines called on Catholics to protect the “common home” and “uphold the right to life” on International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10. In a statement, the social action secretariat of the Catholic bishops’ conference said the annual observance should serve as a reminder that care for life and the environment […]
Read More...Pope Francis lifts secrecy rule in sexual abuse cases
December 18, 2019 · By Chico Harlan for www.washingtonpost.com
ROME — Pope Francis has lifted the Roman Catholic Church’s highest form of confidentiality in sexual abuse cases, a move designed to increase transparency and open the door to information sharing with civil authorities. The abolition of the “pontifical secrecy” rule does not mean that the documents and testimony from the church’s abuse […]
Read More...Rohingya rights group’s office shut in Bangladesh
December 18, 2019 · By Stephan Uttom, Dhaka for www.ucanews.org
Bangladesh’s government has allegedly ordered the closure of the office of a Rohingya rights group in a move that rights campaigners have condemned as “unacceptable” and the “muzzling of freedom of speech” of the beleaguered community. The operational office of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), based in Kutupalong refugee camp […]
Read More...Indonesian Papuans call on all Christians to recognize their plight
December 17, 2019 · By Ryan Dagur, Jakarta for www.ucanews.org
Papuans in Indonesia have called on Christians around the world, including Pope Francis, to include human rights abuses on their land in their Advent prayer intentions to “show humanitarian solidarity” with them. The call was made on Dec. 8 as Papuans marked the shooting deaths of five Catholic students in Papua’s Paniai district five years […]
Read More...Sex abuse scandal threatens to rock Indonesian Church
December 17, 2019 · By Ryan Dagur, Jakarta for www.ucanews.org
The Indonesian Church will take serious steps to address claims in a Catholic media report that dozens of people have been abused in Catholic institutions across the country, a bishops’ conference official has said. At least 56 people were abused within Catholic institutions in Indonesia, according to the report titled “Sexual Abuse in Indonesian Churches: […]
Read More...Cardinal Tagle named head of Vatican evangelization office
December 17, 2019 · By Hannah Brockhaus/CNA for catholicherald.co.uk
Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, archbishop of Manila, Philippines, to lead the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Tagle, 62, follows Cardinal Fernando Filoni as prefect, usually referred to by its historic name of Propaganda Fide. Charged with the Church’s missionary works and territories, Propaganda Fide is one of the largest curial […]
Read More...Caritas Philippines opens ‘social action academy’
December 17, 2019 · By Roy Lagarde for cbcpnews.net
Caritas Philippines has inaugurated on Friday the country’s “social action academy” for development and humanitarian workers. In a simple ceremony, Caritas Internationalis president Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle and Papal nuncio Archbishop Gabriele Caccia led the opening of the Center for Resiliency, Empowerment and Integral Development (CREED). The event started with a Mass officiated by Caccia, […]
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