“Our document,” explained Cardinal Veglio, “is a pastoral
guide that starts from a fundamental premise, ... which is that every policy,
initiative, or intervention in this area must be guided by the principle of
the centrality and
dignity of every human person. … Indeed, this is the pivot of the
Church's social doctrine: 'individual human beings are the foundation, the
cause and the end of every social institution'. Refugees, asylum seekers, and
the forcibly displaced,
therefore, are persons whose dignity must be protected, indeed, it must be the
absolute priority. This is why the document recalls the rights granted to each
refugee,
Subject: VISnews130606
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
which promote the individuals' well-being. These are well described in the 1951
Refugee Convention.”
“Governments must respect these rights while further [rights to be
extended] to the people involved in forced migration must be studied.
Protection must be guaranteed to all who live under conditions of forced
migration, taking into account
their specific needs, which can vary from a residency permit for victims of
human trafficking to the possibility of being granted citizenship for those
who are stateless,” the cardinal observed. On the contrary, he noted, it
is occurring more and
more frequently that refugees are subjected to confined detention, interment
in refugee camps, and having their freedom to travel and their right to work
restricted.
“It would be very different if their recognized and declared rights
were properly respected. After all, the States have established and ratified
these convention to ensure that individuals' rights do not remain just
proclaimed ideals or
commitments that are subscribed to but not honoured. … The Church, for
her part, is convinced that the pastoral care for all persons who, in various
ways, are involved in forced migration is a collective responsibility, as well
as [the
responsibility] of each individual believer. … In close connection to
moral values and the Christian vision, we mean to save human lives, to restore
dignity to persons, to offer hope, and to give adequate social and communal
responses. Letting
ourselves be challenged by the presence of refugees, asylum seekers, and other
persons who have been forcibly displace compels us to go out of our closed
world, which is familiar to us, toward the unknown, in mission, in the
courageous witness
of evangelization,” the prelate concluded.
Cardinal Sarah then referred to the four million displaced persons within
Syria, noting the 80,000 deaths, in less than two years, that have been
“collateral effects” of the conflict. In this regard he observed
that, up until the 1950's,
in war there was a proportion of 1 civilian victim to 9 military casualties
while today that amount has been inverted and dozens of thousands of people
are in flight, “in the attempt to, at least, save their lives”.
He also referenced the population of the Sahel region of Africa, condemned
to hunger because of drought, likening the situation to that in the American
states that have recently been hit by tornadoes. He emphasized that, “at
whatever latitude,
the fight against against natural catastrophes is absolutely unequal and gives
a sense of how humanity is at the mercy of nature instead of being its
responsible custodian.” The cardinal did not overlook those who, even in
Europe, are unemployed
and condemned to “a 'structural poverty', who pay the price of political
choices with their own lives”. Many of these persons chose the path of
emigration, unleashing the “phenomenon of a flight of [intellectuals],
which further and
permanently impoverishes their country of origin”.
In this state of things “the Church intervenes in different ways
according to her ability, mainly thanks to the worthy work of her charitable
organizations and their volunteers”. But “charity, first of all,
is wed to the individual
… charity isn't a window or a register. Whoever is in need must be able
to find a good Samaritan whose heart beats with theirs because they are made
alike and because [the good Samaritan] serves Christ [in serving their
neighbour in need].”
In the same way, charity “has a plural dimension: the refugee, the
impoverished, the suffering need a network of ecclesial support that embraces
and assimilates them … recognizing the dignity of the person and making
them again feel part of
the human family, respecting their identity and their faith” because
“the Christian community is called to live the ecclesial dimension of
charity”.
___________________________________________________________
COR UNUM: SUMMER WILL AGGRAVATE CRISIS IN SYRIA
Vatican City, 6 June 2013 (VIS) – The Pontifical Council “Cor
Unum” called a meeting, from 4-5 June, of the Catholic charitable
agencies that are working to combat the crisis in Syria. Around 25
representatives of local churches,
charitable agencies working in the region, institutional donors from the
Catholic world, the Holy See, and the Apostolic Nunciature in Syria gathered
to reaffirm the continuity of their commitment and to renew the Holy Father's
appeal that all violence
cease and that paths of dialogue and reconciliation, based on respect for all,
be opened.
The local Churches have responded concretely to the population, both in
Syria and the entire region, from the beginning of the conflict. More than
400,000 persons are regularly supported, without discrimination, by
humanitarian aid to the cost of
more than 25 million Euro. Testimonials confirm the extent of the tragedy:
almost 7 million people who need humanitarian assistance, more than 4.5
million forcibly displaced persons, and an ever-increasing number of persons
seeking security outside of
the country's borders.
A more careful analysis of the needs in this area have revealed that, with
the onset of summer, the risk of epidemics in the affected popul
tion—with pregnant women, children, the elderly, and the disabled in
particular jeopardy—will
certainly increase along with shortages of medicines and aid.
In the face of this alarming situation, the Pontifical Council “Cor
Unum” has launched an appeal on behalf of all the agencies involved to
economically support the humanitarian efforts and the search for peace, in the
hopes of rebuilding
a country that has been torn and destroyed by the conflict.
The international community must also provide more support to the countries
that are receiving refugees and to humanitarian operations there, in order to
be able to respond to their growing needs. The international community's
mediation efforts, even
if more decisive in respect to previous months, still seem insufficient. Thus
the risks are increasing that the conflict in Syria might become another
endless war in which the first victims are defenceless civilians, who are
often treated as targets in
the “useless massacre” of this ongoing violence.
___________________________________________________________
SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN BILATERAL COMMISSION BETWEEN HOLY SEE AND ISRAEL
Vatican City, 6 June 2013 (VIS) – According to a joint communique
released today, “the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the
Holy See and the State of Israel met [yesterday], 5 June 2013, at the Vatican,
at the Plenary level
to continue negotiations pursuant to the Fundamental Agreement Art. 10
paragraph 2.”
“The meeting was headed by Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, under-secretary
for the Holy See's Relations with States and by Mr. Zeev Elkin, M.K., deputy
minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel. The Commission welcomed
the two new heads of
the delegations, and acknowledged the contribution of Ambassador Bahij Mansour
to the negotiations and wished him success in his new position. The
negotiations took place in a thoughtful and constructive atmosphere. The
Commission took notice that
significant progress was made and the parties committed themselves to
accelerate negotiations on the remaining issues, and look forward to an
expedited conclusion in the near term.”
“The Parties have agreed on future steps and to hold the next Plenary
meeting by December 2013 in Jerusalem.”
___________________________________________________________
AUDIENCES
Vatican City, 6 June 2013 (VIS) – Today the Holy Father received:
- the credential letters of the new ambassador of the Islamic Republic
of Iran, His excellency Mr. Mohamed Taher Rabbani,
- members of the presidency of the Latin American Confederation of
Religious Orders (CLAR), and
- Archbishop Beniamino Stella, president of Pontifical Ecclesiastical
Academy.
___________________________________________________________
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican City, 6 June 2013 (VIS) – Today the Holy Father appointed Fr.
Lionginas Virbalas, S.J., as bishop of Panevezys (area 13,000, population
390,000, Catholics 320,000, priests 98, religious 76), Lithuania. The
bishop-elect, previously
rector of the Pontifical Russian College of St. Therese of the Child Jesus in
Rome, Italy, was born in Birzai, Lithuania, in 1961 and was ordained a priest
in 1991. Since ordination he has served in several academic, pastoral,
institutional, and
diocesan level roles, most recently as: consultor of the Jesuit Provincial
Curia in Lithuania (2003); adjunct secretary general of Lithuania's Episcopal
Conference (2005-2009); and pastor of St. Casimir parish in Vilnius (1997-2005
and again from
2009-2010). He succeeds Bishop Jonas Kauneckas, whose resignation from the
pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having
reached the age limit.
___________________________________________________________
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