WASHINGTON— Catholic bishops of the North and Central American region and the Caribbean, who are in charge of the pastoral care of migrants, gathered in San Jose, Costa Rica, June 1-3, 2011. A joint declaration after the meeting was made public June 30. The prelates, representing the bishops’ conferences of the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panamá, Honduras and Guatemala, as well as CELAM (Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Latin America) and CARITAS International gathered to express solidarity and concern over the plight of immigrants in the Hemisphere. They were joined by religious and lay experts on issues of migration.
“We continue to witness great suffering among migrants in our countries and regions, who are the victims of exploitation and abuse from various elements of society (public officials, unscrupulous employers and criminal organizations),” the bishops of the region said in their statement. “We again call upon our governments to take responsibility for the legal protection of migrants, including those searching for work, asylum-seekers, refugees, and victims of human trafficking. We ask for special protection for families, women and children.”
At the meeting, the bishops reflected on a variety of issues, including the increased violence against and kidnapping of migrants by organized crime, the increase in deportations between the United States and Mexico, the tragedy of human trafficking, growing economic inequality, the effects of globalization and the increasing threats to agents of the Pastoral Care of Migrants. They also urged continued support for the recovery of Haiti from the January 2010 earthquake, including putting a stop to deportations of Haitians in irregular situation within their countries.
The bishops made an appeal to their respective governments to change or abolish, “those laws that cause the separation of migrant families, arbitrary detention and threats to life”.
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor, of Little Rock, Arkansas, represented the U.S. bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services at the meeting.
Full text of the joint statement, including participating bishops, can be found at:
http://www.usccb.org/mrs/regional-consultation-on-migration-2011.pdf.
A Spanish version is also posted: http://www.usccb.org/mrs/regional-consultation-on-migration-2011-espanol.pdf
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for the week of June 26, 2011
Catholic Charities. Providing Help. Creating Hope.
VISION: Believing in the presence of God in our midst, we proclaim the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the person by sharing in the mission of Jesus given to the Church. To this end, Catholic Charities works with individuals, families, and communities to help them meet their needs, address their issues, eliminate oppression, and build a just and compassionate society.
MISSION: Rooted in the Mission of the Diocese of Youngstown "to minister to the people in the six counties of northeastern Ohio . . .(and) to the world community", we are called to provide service to people in need, to advocate for justice in social structures, and to call the entire Church and other people of good will to do the same.
GOALS: Catholic Charities is devoted to helping meet basic human needs, strengthening families, building communities and empowering low-income people. Working to reduce poverty in half by 2020.
KEY VALUE: Hospitality
WHAT WE DO: Organizing Love. "As a community, the Church must practise love. Love thus needs to be organized if it is to be an ordered service to the community" (Deus Caritas Est, par. 20)
On Sunday (Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Year A http://www.usccb.org/nab/062611.shtml) we read in the Gospel of John about Jesus’ discourse on the nature of living bread: Jesus’ flesh is real, life-giving food shared for all. Jesus tells his disciples that they must all eat of his body/drink of his blood to more fully experience the unity between himself and the Father, a unity that God wants to share with each of us. Today we celebrate Corpus Christi, a public witness that we desire to have that life giving food, and share that food with others.
In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org , as a ministry of the Church, we share that love and unity with all those we serve. Pope Benedict stated in his homily this past Thursday, Corpus Christi, these powerful words: "Those who recognise Jesus in the consecrated Host recognise Him in their suffering brothers and sisters, in the hungry and thirsty, in the stranger, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned; they are attentive to everyone and take concrete steps to help those in need. From the gift of Christ's love arises our special responsibility as Christians to build a united, just and fraternal society. Particularly in our own time in which globalisation makes us increasingly dependent upon one another, Christianity can and must ensure that unity is not built without God - in other words, without real Love - which would only open the way to confusion and selfishness".
Benedict XVI continued: "The Gospel has always sought the unity of the human family, a unity not imposed from above or by ideological or economic interests, but based on a sense of responsibility towards each other, because we recognise one another as members of the same body, the Body of Christ, because we have learned and continue to learn from the Sacrament of the Altar that sharing and love is the way to true justice".
Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate
Global interconnectedness has led to the emergence of a new political power, that of consumers and their associations. This is a phenomenon that needs to be further explored, as it contains positive elements to be encouraged as well as excesses to be avoided. It is good for people to realize that purchasing is always a moral — and not simply economic — act. Hence the consumer has a specific social responsibility, which goes hand-in- hand with the social responsibility of the enterprise. Consumers should be continually educated regarding their daily role, which can be exercised with respect for moral principles without diminishing the intrinsic economic rationality of the act of purchasing. In the retail industry, particularly at times like the present when purchasing power has diminished and people must live more frugally, it is necessary to explore other paths: for example, forms of cooperative purchasing like the consumer cooperatives that have been in operation since the nineteenth century, partly through the initiative of Catholics. In addition, it can be helpful to promote new ways of marketing products from deprived areas of the world, so as to guarantee their producers a decent return. However, certain conditions need to be met: the market should be genuinely transparent; the producers, as well as increasing their profit margins, should also receive improved formation in professional skills and technology; and finally, trade of this kind must not become hostage to partisan ideologies. A more incisive role for consumers, as long as they themselves are not manipulated by associations that do not truly represent them, is a desirable element for building economic democracy.(par. 66)
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.htm
Some important date(s) this week:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/ByDate.aspx
See website for biographies of Saints and Blessed celebrated this week.
https://www.trinitystores.com/.php/catalog.php4?image=183
FRIDAY, JULY 1. Blessed Junipero Serra (1713-1784)
In 1776, when the American Revolution was beginning in the east, another part of the future United States was being born in California. That year a gray-robed Franciscan founded Mission San Juan Capistrano, now famous for its annually returning swallows. San Juan was the seventh of nine missions established under the direction of this indomitable Spaniard.
Born on Spain’s island of Mallorca, Serra entered the Franciscan Order, taking the name of St. Francis’ childlike companion, Brother Juniper. Until he was 35, he spent most of his time in the classroom—first as a student of theology and then as a professor. He also became famous for his preaching. Suddenly he gave it all up and followed the yearning that had begun years before when he heard about the missionary work of St. Francis Solanus in South America. Junipero’s desire was to convert native peoples in the New World.
Arriving by ship at Vera Cruz, Mexico, he and a companion walked the 250 miles to Mexico City. On the way Junipero’s left leg became infected by an insect bite and would remain a cross—sometimes life-threatening—for the rest of his life. For 18 years he worked in central Mexico and in the Baja Peninsula. He became president of the missions there.
Enter politics: the threat of a Russian invasion south from Alaska. Charles III of Spain ordered an expedition to beat Russia to the territory. So the last twoconquistadors—one military, one spiritual—began their quest. José de Galvez persuaded Junipero to set out with him for present-day Monterey, California. The first mission founded after the 900-mile journey north was San Diego (1769). That year a shortage of food almost canceled the expedition. Vowing to stay with the local people, Junipero and another friar began a novena in preparation for St. Joseph’s day, March 19, the scheduled day of departure. On that day, the relief ship arrived.
Other missions followed: Monterey/Carmel (1770); San Antonio and San Gabriel (1771); San Luís Obispo (1772); San Francisco and San Juan Capistrano (1776); Santa Clara (1777); San Buenaventura (1782). Twelve more were founded after Serra’s death.
Junipero made the long trip to Mexico City to settle great differences with the military commander. He arrived at the point of death. The outcome was substantially what Junipero sought: the famous “Regulation” protecting the Indians and the missions. It was the basis for the first significant legislation in California, a “Bill of Rights” for Native Americans.
Because the Native Americans were living a nonhuman life from the Spanish point of view, the friars were made their legal guardians. The Native Americans were kept at the mission after Baptism lest they be corrupted in their former haunts—a move that has brought cries of “injustice” from some moderns.
Junipero’s missionary life was a long battle with cold and hunger, with unsympathetic military commanders and even with danger of death from non-Christian native peoples. Through it all his unquenchable zeal was fed by prayer each night, often from midnight till dawn. He baptized over 6,000 people and confirmed 5,000. His travels would have circled the globe. He brought the Native Americans not only the gift of faith but also a decent standard of living. He won their love, as witnessed especially by their grief at his death. He is buried at Mission San Carlo Borromeo, Carmel, and was beatified in 1988.
SHARING HOPE IN HARD ECONOMIC TIMES.
This coming Friday, in solidarity with those who are hungry, consider fasting and/or making a donation to your local food pantry. Visit http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/july-1-sacred-heart-of-jesus.pdf for more information about the First Fridays for Food Security effort.
PAPAL INTENTIONS: June 2011
General Intention: That priests, united to the Heart of Christ, may always be true witnesses of the caring and merciful love of God.
Missionary Intention: That the Holy Spirit may bring forth from our communities numerous missionary vocations, willing to fully consecrate themselves to spreading the Kingdom of God.
July 2011
General Intention: That Christians may contribute to alleviating the material and spiritual suffering of AIDS patients, especially in the poorest countries.
Missionary Intention: For the religious who work in mission territories, that they may be witnesses of the joy of the Gospel and living signs of the love of Christ.
Corporal Works of Mercy: The seven practices of charity toward our neighbor
Feed the hungry
Give drink to the thirsty
Clothe the naked
Shelter the homeless
Visit the sick
Visit those in prison
Bury the dead
Note: Please consider joining our
FACEBOOK CAUSE http://apps.facebook.com/causes/106889
FACEBOOK GROUP https://www.facebook.com/pages/Catholic-Charities-Diocese-of-Youngstown/138817639487339
TWITTER account, CCDOY, http://twitter.com/CCDOY
for current updates and calls to action that we can all use.
See our website at www.catholiccharitiesyoungstown.org for links to the our ministries and services.
For more information on Catholic Social Doctrine and its connection to our ministries, visit my blog at: http://corbinchurchthinking.blogspot.com/
Saturday, June 18, 2011
MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for the week of June 19, 2011
Catholic Charities. Providing Help. Creating Hope.
VISION: Believing in the presence of God in our midst, we proclaim the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the person by sharing in the mission of Jesus given to the Church. To this end, Catholic Charities works with individuals, families, and communities to help them meet their needs, address their issues, eliminate oppression, and build a just and compassionate society.
MISSION: Rooted in the Mission of the Diocese of Youngstown "to minister to the people in the six counties of northeastern Ohio . . .(and) to the world community", we are called to provide service to people in need, to advocate for justice in social structures, and to call the entire Church and other people of good will to do the same.
GOALS: Catholic Charities is devoted to helping meet basic human needs, strengthening families, building communities and empowering low-income people. Working to reduce poverty in half by 2020.
KEY VALUE: Hospitality
WHAT WE DO: Organizing Love. "As a community, the Church must practise love. Love thus needs to be organized if it is to be an ordered service to the community" (Deus Caritas Est, par. 20)
On Sunday (The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Year A http://usccb.org/nab/061911.shtml) we read in the Gospel of John about the great gift from God: his only begotten Son who has come to bring life, abundant life, to the world. We get a preview of this act of God in the first reading wherein Moses hears the “name” of God. We no longer just hear God’s’ Name, but now we encounter God himself through Jesus. Through this encounter, St Paul tells us how to live: “Brothers and sisters, rejoice. Mend your ways, encourage one another,agree with one another, live in peace”
In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org , as a ministry of the Church, we continue to help people see and hear and touch God by living out the work of Jesus to heal, serve and show compassion. Each of our clients, made in the image of God him/herself, helps us to encounter God anew. In Catholic Charities, to the best of our ability and through whatever means we have at our disposal, we help to give others an experience of more abundant life. Sometimes a smile, a word of comfort, a touch of concern, to a person in distress can bring great joy. In so many ways, we share in this everlasting love of God in our love of neighbor.
Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate
Both the regulation of the financial sector, so as to safeguard weaker parties and discourage scandalous speculation, and experimentation with new forms of finance, designed to support development projects, are positive experiences that should be further explored and encouraged, highlighting the responsibility of the investor. Furthermore, the experience of micro-finance,which has its roots in the thinking and activity of the civil humanists — I am thinking especially of the birth of pawnbroking — should be strengthened and fine-tuned. This is all the more necessary in these days when financial difficulties can become severe for many of the more vulnerable sectors of the population, who should be protected from the risk of usury and from despair. The weakest members of society should be helped to defend themselves against usury, just as poor peoples should be helped to derive real benefit from micro-credit, in order to discourage the exploitation that is possible in these two areas. Since rich countries are also experiencing new forms of poverty, micro-finance can give practical assistance by launching new initiatives and opening up new sectors for the benefit of the weaker elements in society, even at a time of general economic downturn. (par. 65b)
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.htm
Some important date(s) this week:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/ByDate.aspx
See website for biographies of Saints and Blessed celebrated this week.
SUNDAY JUNE 19. Father’s Day in the United States. Happy Father’s Day.
http://www.monasteryicons.com/graphics/products/regular/434.jpg
WEDNESDAY JUNE 22. St. Thomas More. (1478-1535) His belief that no lay ruler has jurisdiction over the Church of Christ cost Thomas More his life.
Beheaded on Tower Hill, London, July 6, 1535, he steadfastly refused to approve Henry VIII’s divorce and remarriage and establishment of the Church of England.
Described as “a man for all seasons,” More was a literary scholar, eminent lawyer, gentleman, father of four children and chancellor of England. An intensely spiritual man, he would not support the king’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn. Nor would he acknowledge Henry as supreme head of the Church in England, breaking with Rome and denying the pope as head.
More was committed to the Tower of London to await trial for treason: not swearing to the Act of Succession and the Oath of Supremacy. Upon conviction, More declared he had all the councils of Christendom and not just the council of one realm to support him in the decision of his conscience.
SHARING HOPE IN HARD ECONOMIC TIMES.
Mark your calendar! The 2011 Catholic Charities Voice of Hope Dinner will be held on Friday, September 16, 2011 at the Maronite Center in Youngstown. The event will begin with hors d’oeuvres, an open bar, Chinese auction and musical entertainment at 5:30 p.m. Contact Nikole Baringer at Catholic Charities, 330-744-8451, ext. 323 or nbaringer@youngstowndiocese.org for more information.
PAPAL INTENTIONS: June 2011
General Intention: That priests, united to the Heart of Christ, may always be true witnesses of the caring and merciful love of God.
Missionary Intention: That the Holy Spirit may bring forth from our communities numerous missionary vocations, willing to fully consecrate themselves to spreading the Kingdom of God.
Corporal Works of Mercy: The seven practices of charity toward our neighbor
Feed the hungry
Give drink to the thirsty
Clothe the naked
Shelter the homeless
Visit the sick
Visit those in prison
Bury the dead
Note: Please consider joining our
FACEBOOK CAUSE http://apps.facebook.com/causes/106889
FACEBOOK GROUP https://www.facebook.com/pages/Catholic-Charities-Diocese-of-Youngstown/138817639487339
TWITTER account, CCDOY, http://twitter.com/CCDOY
for current updates and calls to action that we can all use.
See our website at www.catholiccharitiesyoungstown.org for links to the our ministries and services.
For more information on Catholic Social Doctrine and its connection to our ministries, visit my blog at: http://corbinchurchthinking.blogspot.com/
Saturday, June 11, 2011
The Church's Response to AIDS
"The Only Institution That Assists People Up Close and Concretely"
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 11, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address given by Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See’s permanent observer at the U.N. offices in Geneva, at a May 27-28 Vatican meeting on “The Centrality of Care for the Person in the Prevention and Treatment of Illnesses Caused by HIV/AIDS.”
The archbishop’s speech was titled “The International Role of the Catholic Church in the Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS.”
* * *
It is with much gratitude to Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, President of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, and in fraternal solidarity with him, that I share these reflections on the Church’s important role at the level of the wide range of inter-governmental and other global institutions engaged in the response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Before initiating this discussion, I also wish to greet, with particular respect and recognition, Mr. Michel Sidibé, who is responsible for leading the Joint United Nations Co-Sponsored Programme on AIDS and who seizes every opportunity to acknowledge and thank the Catholic Church and other faith-based organizations for their unique and uncompromising contributions to the struggle against this urgent health crisis.
1. From the time that the AIDS pandemic was first identified, during the early 1980s, the immediate engagement of various religious orders, diocesan and national Caritas organizations, and other Catholic Church-inspired institutions in response to the health, social, and pastoral needs of the people living and dying with AIDS-related illnesses, has been widely known and documented. Thus it was no surprise that the Holy See, and Catholic Church-related international organizations would be most interested to share their experiences and insights with the emerging global coordination of the public health response to the challenges posed by HIV and AIDS. The Holy See representation in Geneva monitored the establishment of the Global AIDS Programme (GPA) at the World Health Organization. Given its prioritization of the pandemic, in 1987, as a major focus of reflection and action, Caritas Internationalis regularly attended the Management Committee meetings of the GPA and, on occasion, was consulted by its first Director, Dr. Jonathan Mann and his expert staff, with regard to “lessons learned” in the field by Catholic organizations serving the sick and dying as well as the surviving loved ones of those whose lives had been so tragically affected by this threatening and complex epidemic. It is highly likely that the sensitivity of Dr. Mann to the human rights and social determinants of the ever-increasing spread of HIV was influenced by his consultations with Catholic Church-related programmes that saw the situation in a holistic manner, including the social, economic, emotional and spiritual dimensions of the persons living with or affected by HIV, rather than from a merely medical or scientific perspective.
Since the establishment of UNAIDS, in 1995, as a Joint Programme, including co-sponsorship of ten different UN agencies, the Holy See, as well as several Catholic Church-inspired organizations, such as Caritas Internationalis, Catholic Relief Services, and the Associazione Papa Giovanni XXIII have participated, as observers, in the semi-annual meetings of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board. In a similar manner, these same Catholic structures are called upon for contributions to various Working Groups, planning mechanisms, and development of policy and practice guidelines, not only by UNAIDS, but also by its various partner agencies.
In 2006, Caritas Internationalis, with the encouragement of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations and Specialized Agencies in Geneva, cooperated with UNAIDS and the World Health Organization to convene some 70 representatives of Catholic Church-inspired organizations with major engagement in the global response to HIV and AIDS. On that occasion, transparent, and open dialogue was held between the workers “in the vineyard” in some of the most rural and isolated HIV prevention, treatment, and care programmes in low-income countries and the officials of the above-mentioned UN agencies. This convening greatly advanced the understanding of the public health experts concerning the breadth and depth of the Church’s response to this pandemic and opened doors to collaboration among the Church, government, and international organizations at regional, national, and local levels.
Another major step forward in facilitating greater understanding of the Church’s international activity in response to AIDS has been facilitated by the mapping reports on such activities in Southern Africa (published as a Best Practice report by UNAIDS), of the work of the Dream Project to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother-to-child (published as a Best Practice by WHO), of the survey done by the Joint Commission on Health of Unions of Superiors General on the HIV/AIDS responses of religious congregations throughout the world (designed with support from technical research experts at UNAIDS), and of the various national mapping exercises undertaken at regional level by the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, and, at national level, by Episcopal Conferences in such countries as India, Kenya, Thailand, and Myanmar. These studies clearly demonstrate the Church’s significant contribution to this field in such areas as: Prevention, Care, Treatment, Services for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Advocacy, Capacity-Building, Theological Reflection, Pastoral Care, and Interfaith Involvement. Basic information and strategies to promote implementation of action in these fields of ecclesial action are clearly presented in the publication entitled Pastoral Training for Response to HIV/AIDS, developed by Caritas Internationalis. The book, originally published by Paulines Publications Africa, is available in various languages.
2. The Holy See also has attempted to monitor the establishment, as well as the policy and operation, of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria. Despite the impressive and highly significant burden of care that is assumed by the Catholic Church in response to these three pandemics threatening the human family during this modern era[1], only a very small portion of funds distributed by this innovative structure have, in fact, been earmarked for faith-based organizations. According to a study on this topic, completed in 2008, only 5.4% of Global Fund grants were received by faith-based organizations.[2] We understand that there is slow but steady progress in making more of these funds available to programmes sponsored by the Catholic Church. I believe that Dr. Christoph Benn, who is well known to us in Geneva and who will serve as an expert speaker at this Conference, will be able to offer updated data in this regard. Regrettably, however, there still seems to be much resistance among some international funders to offer support for faith-based responses to HIV and AIDS.
3. Now let us examine areas in which the Holy See and Catholic Church-inspired organizations have successfully influenced global policy and practice related to this pandemic. In all cases, such activity has been undertaken in conformity to the Church’s overall magisterial, diaconal, and pastoral mission.
Much educational energy and expertise has been focused on the area of preventing the further spread of HIV infection. Many governments, public health authorities, and even some UN agencies, have preferred to promote an incomplete “quick fix” prevention approach that almost exclusively relied on the promotion and distribution of condoms. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, insisted on prevention strategies in conformity with its teaching on the dignity of the human person, the sanctity of marriage, and the need for exercising responsibility in intimate human relationships by observing sexual abstinence outside marriage and mutual and permanent fidelity within marriage. This led to false claims that the Catholic hierarchy was an obstacle to effective HIV prevention and even was “guilty” of the AIDS-related deaths of millions of persons. We can be thankful for the courage and the wisdom of experts such as Dr. Edward C. Green who has been able to demonstrate the evidence base that promotion of behaviour change toward more responsible sexual relationships has been much more effective than condom promotion in decreasing new HIV infections.[3]
In this regard, the Permanent Observer Missions of the Holy See in both Geneva and New York repeatedly have emphasized the theme of responsibility in interpersonal relationships in meetings of UNAIDS, World Health Organization, and at the more broad-based Special Sessions on AIDS that were convened by the United Nations General Assembly in 2001, 2006, 2008 and soon to be convened in June 2011. Blessed Pope John Paul II, of revered memory, illustrated this enduring and unalterable value during his address to the Conference on AIDS convened by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers in November 1989: “… the Church, sure interpreter of the Law of God and ‘expert in humanity’, is concerned not only with stating a series of ‘no’s’ to particular behavior patterns, but above all with proposing a completely meaningful lifestyle for the person.”[4] This same teaching was re-affirmed most recently by our present Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, during his interview with the German journalist, Peter Seewald, later published in the book entitled, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Signs of the Times: “… we cannot solve the problem by distributing condoms. Much more needs to be done. We must stand close to the people, we must guide and help them; and we must do this both before and after they contract the disease.”
4. The Church has not confined its attention to teaching about HIV prevention; it has equally engaged itself in advocacy to eliminate discrimination against those living with or affected by HIV, especially any such rejection or marginalization based on the false premise that AIDS might be a “punishment” sent by God. Thus the words of the Episcopal Conference of Southern Africa, written in 2001, have resonated in the magisterial instructions of bishops in many other countries: “AIDS must never be considered as a punishment from God. He wants us to be healthy and not to die from AIDS. It is for us a sign of the times challenging all people to inner transformation and to the following of Christ in his ministry of healing, mercy and love.”[5]
5. Inspired by the Gospel Imperative of prioritizing the needs of the poor and vulnerable, the Church consistently raised its voice to point out and insist on a just solution to the inequitable distribution of resources made available in the global response to the HIV pandemic. Blessed Pope John Paul II expressed his urgent concern about this matter in his letter to then-United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on the occasion of the first UN Special Session on AIDS in 2001. He recalled the words of the Second Vatican Council regarding the common destination of goods[6] and then launched the following urgent plea: “On account of this social mortgage, included in international law by the affirmation, among other things, of every individual's right to health, I ask the rich countries to respond to the needs of HIV/AIDS patients in poorer countries with all available means, so that those men and women afflicted in body and soul will be able to have access to the medicines they need to treat themselves.”[7]
Again Pope Benedict XVI re-affirmed these same concerns when he emphasized, in 2006, during his address to the participants in the 21stInternational Conference promoted by the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care when he noted, with much concern, “… the importance ofcollaboration with the various public bodies so that social justice may be implemented in this sensitive area of the treatment” and care of infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis and the urgent need of “fair distribution of resources for research and treatment, as well as the promotion of living standards which help to prevent the occurrence and limit the spread” of such illnesses.[8]
In order to assure that these words are put into practice, the Holy See, as well as several international organizations of Catholic inspiration, including Caritas Internationalis, Associazione Papa Giovanni XXIII, the International Catholic Child Bureau, and religious congregations with representation to the United Nations, have monitored carefully and provided input to United Nations processes promoting flexibilities in the application of intellectual property rights, the promotion of Universal Access to prevention, treatment, care and support of persons living with or affected by the HIV pandemic, and special attention to the rights of children affected by HIV and other diseases by ensuring access to early diagnosis and “child-friendly” treatment for such illnesses.
6. The Church could never ignore its essential mission as Pastor to the People of God. Thus the Holy See emphasizes the spiritual needs of people in its interventions at the United Nations and in other inter-governmental fora. In the Constitution of the World Health Organization, the definition of health extends beyond medical interventions and social determinants to include a “state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”[9] In its comment on the “Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development” during the Seventh Session of the Council on Human Rights, the Holy See delegation recognized “as well, the need to assure access to spiritual assistance among those conditions which guarantee the full enjoyment of the right to health.”[10] It also seized the opportunity to take issue with claims in the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health that “few human rights are absolute,” [11] and to insist that “no compromise can be made with a person’s right to life itself, from conception to natural death, nor with that person’s ability to enjoy the dignity which flows from that right.”[12]
7. My conclusion will be brief, because I believe that our Holy Father already has summarized the theme of this presentation in a clear and unquestionable manner, and so I will close by quoting once again his comments to the journalist, Peter Seewald: “… [T]he Church does more than anyone else. And I stand by that claim. Because she is the only institution that assists people up close and concretely, with prevention, education, help, counsel, and accompaniment. And because she is second to none in treating so many … [persons living with or affected by HIV and AIDS], especially children with Aids.”[13]
The effective action mobilized by the Catholic Church in response to the global HIV pandemic has delivered care and set an example. An additional good news is the announcement made today in relation to the effectiveness of anti-retroviral treatment both in prolonging life and improving the quality of life among those already living with the virus and the efficiency of such treatment in preventing the further spread of HIV. However, the fact is that there still is a long way to go: 33 million people throughout the world are living with HIV; for every one person who gains access to the life-saving anti-retroviral medications, two are newly-infected with the virus, 7,100 each day; presently, 10 million who need these medicines have no access to them and a recent study done by Catholic Church-inspired funding and technical assistance agencies revealed reports from their partner organizations in low- and middle-income countries that international funding cutbacks and flat-lining have resulted in significant delays in receipt of promised funding, insistence on fulfilling previously-established outcomes with less funding, restrictions on accepting new patients into the treatment caseloads, and much uncertainty with regard to future sustainability of life-saving anti-retroviral programmes.[14]
The Church as a community of faith, hope and love cannot rest in its mission of service directed to place each and every human person at the centre of the global response to HIV and to engage in stronger advocacy and cooperative efforts to assure that all such persons “might have life and have it to the full.”[15]
--- --- ---
[1] A 2007 Study conducted by World Health Organization and others indicated that between 40% and 70% of health care in sub-Saharan Africa is delivered by faith-based organizations.
[2] Report by Dr. Christoph Benn, Director of External Relations, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, during a Conference on “Scaling up Involvement of Faith-based Organizations in Global Fund Processes, held in Dar-Es-Salaam, April 2008.
[3] Edward C. Green and Allison Herling Ruark, “AIDS and the Churches: Getting the Story Right”, First Things, http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=6172 ; Edward C. Green, Broken Promises: How the AIDS Establishment Has Betrayed the Developing World, ISBN 978-1-93-6227-00-6, Sausalito, California, USA: Poli-Point Press, LLC, 2011.
[4] Pope John Paul II, Address to the IV International Conference of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, “The Church Faced with the Challenge Of Aids: Prevention Worthy Of The Human Person and Assistance In Complete Solidarity,” 15 November 1989.
[5] A Message of Hope from the Catholic Bishops to the People of God in South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland, 30 July 2001.
[6] Gaudium et Spes, 7,1, which also was mentioned by Pope John Paul II in Centesimus Annus, 30.
[7] Message of Pope John Paul II to the Secretary General of the United Nations, on the occasion of the Special Session on AIDS of the UN General Assembly, 25-27 June 2001.
[8]http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/november/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20061124_pc-health_en.html
[9] Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19 June - 22 July 1946; signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Official Records of the World Health Organization, no. 2, p. 100) and entered into force on 7 April 1948.
[10] Charter for Health Care Workers, #40, Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, Vatican City, 1995. http://www.healthpastoral.org/pdffiles/Charter_06_Chapter2.pdf
[11] Document A/HRC/7/11, 31 January 2008, #63.
[12] Intervention of H.E. Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations at Geneva at the 7th Session of the Human Rights Council, Item 3: Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, 11 March 2008
[13] Benedict XVI, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Signs of the Times - A Conversation with Peter Seewald, Ignatius Press 2010, ISBN # 9781586176068, pp. 117-119.
[14] “Keeping Commitments for HIV and AIDS: Access for All to Treatment, Prevention, Care and Support,” A Position Paper from the Catholic HIV and AIDS Network (CHAN), April 2011.
[15] John 10:10
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 11, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address given by Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See’s permanent observer at the U.N. offices in Geneva, at a May 27-28 Vatican meeting on “The Centrality of Care for the Person in the Prevention and Treatment of Illnesses Caused by HIV/AIDS.”
The archbishop’s speech was titled “The International Role of the Catholic Church in the Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS.”
* * *
It is with much gratitude to Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, President of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, and in fraternal solidarity with him, that I share these reflections on the Church’s important role at the level of the wide range of inter-governmental and other global institutions engaged in the response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Before initiating this discussion, I also wish to greet, with particular respect and recognition, Mr. Michel Sidibé, who is responsible for leading the Joint United Nations Co-Sponsored Programme on AIDS and who seizes every opportunity to acknowledge and thank the Catholic Church and other faith-based organizations for their unique and uncompromising contributions to the struggle against this urgent health crisis.
1. From the time that the AIDS pandemic was first identified, during the early 1980s, the immediate engagement of various religious orders, diocesan and national Caritas organizations, and other Catholic Church-inspired institutions in response to the health, social, and pastoral needs of the people living and dying with AIDS-related illnesses, has been widely known and documented. Thus it was no surprise that the Holy See, and Catholic Church-related international organizations would be most interested to share their experiences and insights with the emerging global coordination of the public health response to the challenges posed by HIV and AIDS. The Holy See representation in Geneva monitored the establishment of the Global AIDS Programme (GPA) at the World Health Organization. Given its prioritization of the pandemic, in 1987, as a major focus of reflection and action, Caritas Internationalis regularly attended the Management Committee meetings of the GPA and, on occasion, was consulted by its first Director, Dr. Jonathan Mann and his expert staff, with regard to “lessons learned” in the field by Catholic organizations serving the sick and dying as well as the surviving loved ones of those whose lives had been so tragically affected by this threatening and complex epidemic. It is highly likely that the sensitivity of Dr. Mann to the human rights and social determinants of the ever-increasing spread of HIV was influenced by his consultations with Catholic Church-related programmes that saw the situation in a holistic manner, including the social, economic, emotional and spiritual dimensions of the persons living with or affected by HIV, rather than from a merely medical or scientific perspective.
Since the establishment of UNAIDS, in 1995, as a Joint Programme, including co-sponsorship of ten different UN agencies, the Holy See, as well as several Catholic Church-inspired organizations, such as Caritas Internationalis, Catholic Relief Services, and the Associazione Papa Giovanni XXIII have participated, as observers, in the semi-annual meetings of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board. In a similar manner, these same Catholic structures are called upon for contributions to various Working Groups, planning mechanisms, and development of policy and practice guidelines, not only by UNAIDS, but also by its various partner agencies.
In 2006, Caritas Internationalis, with the encouragement of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations and Specialized Agencies in Geneva, cooperated with UNAIDS and the World Health Organization to convene some 70 representatives of Catholic Church-inspired organizations with major engagement in the global response to HIV and AIDS. On that occasion, transparent, and open dialogue was held between the workers “in the vineyard” in some of the most rural and isolated HIV prevention, treatment, and care programmes in low-income countries and the officials of the above-mentioned UN agencies. This convening greatly advanced the understanding of the public health experts concerning the breadth and depth of the Church’s response to this pandemic and opened doors to collaboration among the Church, government, and international organizations at regional, national, and local levels.
Another major step forward in facilitating greater understanding of the Church’s international activity in response to AIDS has been facilitated by the mapping reports on such activities in Southern Africa (published as a Best Practice report by UNAIDS), of the work of the Dream Project to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother-to-child (published as a Best Practice by WHO), of the survey done by the Joint Commission on Health of Unions of Superiors General on the HIV/AIDS responses of religious congregations throughout the world (designed with support from technical research experts at UNAIDS), and of the various national mapping exercises undertaken at regional level by the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, and, at national level, by Episcopal Conferences in such countries as India, Kenya, Thailand, and Myanmar. These studies clearly demonstrate the Church’s significant contribution to this field in such areas as: Prevention, Care, Treatment, Services for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Advocacy, Capacity-Building, Theological Reflection, Pastoral Care, and Interfaith Involvement. Basic information and strategies to promote implementation of action in these fields of ecclesial action are clearly presented in the publication entitled Pastoral Training for Response to HIV/AIDS, developed by Caritas Internationalis. The book, originally published by Paulines Publications Africa, is available in various languages.
2. The Holy See also has attempted to monitor the establishment, as well as the policy and operation, of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria. Despite the impressive and highly significant burden of care that is assumed by the Catholic Church in response to these three pandemics threatening the human family during this modern era[1], only a very small portion of funds distributed by this innovative structure have, in fact, been earmarked for faith-based organizations. According to a study on this topic, completed in 2008, only 5.4% of Global Fund grants were received by faith-based organizations.[2] We understand that there is slow but steady progress in making more of these funds available to programmes sponsored by the Catholic Church. I believe that Dr. Christoph Benn, who is well known to us in Geneva and who will serve as an expert speaker at this Conference, will be able to offer updated data in this regard. Regrettably, however, there still seems to be much resistance among some international funders to offer support for faith-based responses to HIV and AIDS.
3. Now let us examine areas in which the Holy See and Catholic Church-inspired organizations have successfully influenced global policy and practice related to this pandemic. In all cases, such activity has been undertaken in conformity to the Church’s overall magisterial, diaconal, and pastoral mission.
Much educational energy and expertise has been focused on the area of preventing the further spread of HIV infection. Many governments, public health authorities, and even some UN agencies, have preferred to promote an incomplete “quick fix” prevention approach that almost exclusively relied on the promotion and distribution of condoms. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, insisted on prevention strategies in conformity with its teaching on the dignity of the human person, the sanctity of marriage, and the need for exercising responsibility in intimate human relationships by observing sexual abstinence outside marriage and mutual and permanent fidelity within marriage. This led to false claims that the Catholic hierarchy was an obstacle to effective HIV prevention and even was “guilty” of the AIDS-related deaths of millions of persons. We can be thankful for the courage and the wisdom of experts such as Dr. Edward C. Green who has been able to demonstrate the evidence base that promotion of behaviour change toward more responsible sexual relationships has been much more effective than condom promotion in decreasing new HIV infections.[3]
In this regard, the Permanent Observer Missions of the Holy See in both Geneva and New York repeatedly have emphasized the theme of responsibility in interpersonal relationships in meetings of UNAIDS, World Health Organization, and at the more broad-based Special Sessions on AIDS that were convened by the United Nations General Assembly in 2001, 2006, 2008 and soon to be convened in June 2011. Blessed Pope John Paul II, of revered memory, illustrated this enduring and unalterable value during his address to the Conference on AIDS convened by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers in November 1989: “… the Church, sure interpreter of the Law of God and ‘expert in humanity’, is concerned not only with stating a series of ‘no’s’ to particular behavior patterns, but above all with proposing a completely meaningful lifestyle for the person.”[4] This same teaching was re-affirmed most recently by our present Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, during his interview with the German journalist, Peter Seewald, later published in the book entitled, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Signs of the Times: “… we cannot solve the problem by distributing condoms. Much more needs to be done. We must stand close to the people, we must guide and help them; and we must do this both before and after they contract the disease.”
4. The Church has not confined its attention to teaching about HIV prevention; it has equally engaged itself in advocacy to eliminate discrimination against those living with or affected by HIV, especially any such rejection or marginalization based on the false premise that AIDS might be a “punishment” sent by God. Thus the words of the Episcopal Conference of Southern Africa, written in 2001, have resonated in the magisterial instructions of bishops in many other countries: “AIDS must never be considered as a punishment from God. He wants us to be healthy and not to die from AIDS. It is for us a sign of the times challenging all people to inner transformation and to the following of Christ in his ministry of healing, mercy and love.”[5]
5. Inspired by the Gospel Imperative of prioritizing the needs of the poor and vulnerable, the Church consistently raised its voice to point out and insist on a just solution to the inequitable distribution of resources made available in the global response to the HIV pandemic. Blessed Pope John Paul II expressed his urgent concern about this matter in his letter to then-United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on the occasion of the first UN Special Session on AIDS in 2001. He recalled the words of the Second Vatican Council regarding the common destination of goods[6] and then launched the following urgent plea: “On account of this social mortgage, included in international law by the affirmation, among other things, of every individual's right to health, I ask the rich countries to respond to the needs of HIV/AIDS patients in poorer countries with all available means, so that those men and women afflicted in body and soul will be able to have access to the medicines they need to treat themselves.”[7]
Again Pope Benedict XVI re-affirmed these same concerns when he emphasized, in 2006, during his address to the participants in the 21stInternational Conference promoted by the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care when he noted, with much concern, “… the importance ofcollaboration with the various public bodies so that social justice may be implemented in this sensitive area of the treatment” and care of infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis and the urgent need of “fair distribution of resources for research and treatment, as well as the promotion of living standards which help to prevent the occurrence and limit the spread” of such illnesses.[8]
In order to assure that these words are put into practice, the Holy See, as well as several international organizations of Catholic inspiration, including Caritas Internationalis, Associazione Papa Giovanni XXIII, the International Catholic Child Bureau, and religious congregations with representation to the United Nations, have monitored carefully and provided input to United Nations processes promoting flexibilities in the application of intellectual property rights, the promotion of Universal Access to prevention, treatment, care and support of persons living with or affected by the HIV pandemic, and special attention to the rights of children affected by HIV and other diseases by ensuring access to early diagnosis and “child-friendly” treatment for such illnesses.
6. The Church could never ignore its essential mission as Pastor to the People of God. Thus the Holy See emphasizes the spiritual needs of people in its interventions at the United Nations and in other inter-governmental fora. In the Constitution of the World Health Organization, the definition of health extends beyond medical interventions and social determinants to include a “state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”[9] In its comment on the “Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development” during the Seventh Session of the Council on Human Rights, the Holy See delegation recognized “as well, the need to assure access to spiritual assistance among those conditions which guarantee the full enjoyment of the right to health.”[10] It also seized the opportunity to take issue with claims in the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health that “few human rights are absolute,” [11] and to insist that “no compromise can be made with a person’s right to life itself, from conception to natural death, nor with that person’s ability to enjoy the dignity which flows from that right.”[12]
7. My conclusion will be brief, because I believe that our Holy Father already has summarized the theme of this presentation in a clear and unquestionable manner, and so I will close by quoting once again his comments to the journalist, Peter Seewald: “… [T]he Church does more than anyone else. And I stand by that claim. Because she is the only institution that assists people up close and concretely, with prevention, education, help, counsel, and accompaniment. And because she is second to none in treating so many … [persons living with or affected by HIV and AIDS], especially children with Aids.”[13]
The effective action mobilized by the Catholic Church in response to the global HIV pandemic has delivered care and set an example. An additional good news is the announcement made today in relation to the effectiveness of anti-retroviral treatment both in prolonging life and improving the quality of life among those already living with the virus and the efficiency of such treatment in preventing the further spread of HIV. However, the fact is that there still is a long way to go: 33 million people throughout the world are living with HIV; for every one person who gains access to the life-saving anti-retroviral medications, two are newly-infected with the virus, 7,100 each day; presently, 10 million who need these medicines have no access to them and a recent study done by Catholic Church-inspired funding and technical assistance agencies revealed reports from their partner organizations in low- and middle-income countries that international funding cutbacks and flat-lining have resulted in significant delays in receipt of promised funding, insistence on fulfilling previously-established outcomes with less funding, restrictions on accepting new patients into the treatment caseloads, and much uncertainty with regard to future sustainability of life-saving anti-retroviral programmes.[14]
The Church as a community of faith, hope and love cannot rest in its mission of service directed to place each and every human person at the centre of the global response to HIV and to engage in stronger advocacy and cooperative efforts to assure that all such persons “might have life and have it to the full.”[15]
--- --- ---
[1] A 2007 Study conducted by World Health Organization and others indicated that between 40% and 70% of health care in sub-Saharan Africa is delivered by faith-based organizations.
[2] Report by Dr. Christoph Benn, Director of External Relations, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, during a Conference on “Scaling up Involvement of Faith-based Organizations in Global Fund Processes, held in Dar-Es-Salaam, April 2008.
[3] Edward C. Green and Allison Herling Ruark, “AIDS and the Churches: Getting the Story Right”, First Things, http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=6172 ; Edward C. Green, Broken Promises: How the AIDS Establishment Has Betrayed the Developing World, ISBN 978-1-93-6227-00-6, Sausalito, California, USA: Poli-Point Press, LLC, 2011.
[4] Pope John Paul II, Address to the IV International Conference of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, “The Church Faced with the Challenge Of Aids: Prevention Worthy Of The Human Person and Assistance In Complete Solidarity,” 15 November 1989.
[5] A Message of Hope from the Catholic Bishops to the People of God in South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland, 30 July 2001.
[6] Gaudium et Spes, 7,1, which also was mentioned by Pope John Paul II in Centesimus Annus, 30.
[7] Message of Pope John Paul II to the Secretary General of the United Nations, on the occasion of the Special Session on AIDS of the UN General Assembly, 25-27 June 2001.
[8]http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/november/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20061124_pc-health_en.html
[9] Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19 June - 22 July 1946; signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Official Records of the World Health Organization, no. 2, p. 100) and entered into force on 7 April 1948.
[10] Charter for Health Care Workers, #40, Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, Vatican City, 1995. http://www.healthpastoral.org/pdffiles/Charter_06_Chapter2.pdf
[11] Document A/HRC/7/11, 31 January 2008, #63.
[12] Intervention of H.E. Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations at Geneva at the 7th Session of the Human Rights Council, Item 3: Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, 11 March 2008
[13] Benedict XVI, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Signs of the Times - A Conversation with Peter Seewald, Ignatius Press 2010, ISBN # 9781586176068, pp. 117-119.
[14] “Keeping Commitments for HIV and AIDS: Access for All to Treatment, Prevention, Care and Support,” A Position Paper from the Catholic HIV and AIDS Network (CHAN), April 2011.
[15] John 10:10
Friday, June 10, 2011
MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for the week of June 12, 2011
Catholic Charities. Providing Help. Creating Hope.
VISION: Believing in the presence of God in our midst, we proclaim the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the person by sharing in the mission of Jesus given to the Church. To this end, Catholic Charities works with individuals, families, and communities to help them meet their needs, address their issues, eliminate oppression, and build a just and compassionate society.
MISSION: Rooted in the Mission of the Diocese of Youngstown "to minister to the people in the six counties of northeastern Ohio . . .(and) to the world community", we are called to provide service to people in need, to advocate for justice in social structures, and to call the entire Church and other people of good will to do the same.
GOALS: Catholic Charities is devoted to helping meet basic human needs, strengthening families, building communities and empowering low-income people. Working to reduce poverty in half by 2020.
KEY VALUE: Hospitality
WHAT WE DO: Organizing Love. "As a community, the Church must practise love. Love thus needs to be organized if it is to be an ordered service to the community" (Deus Caritas Est, par. 20)
http://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/MexicanPentecostIcon.gif
http://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/CopticPentecostIcon_sm.jpg
On Sunday (Solemnity of Pentecost, Year A http://www.usccb.org/nab/061211b.shtml) we read in the Gospel of John about Jesus’ appearance to his disciples on his day of resurrection. The apostles were in a locked room, fearful. Jesus grants them his peace, not once but twice. Jesus tells his disciples that He is sending them as his Father sent Him. Jesus then breathes the Holy Spirit on them. We read in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles that Jesus’ once fearful followers are now in the streets proclaiming the Good News as the Spirit blows upon the community: the Church. Today we celebrate that birthday of the Church that continues today.
In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org , we continue as an essential part of that Church born today on Pentecost to bring Good News of hope, love and joy. We read in the letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians that we are all one body in the Spirit, and each is given gift(s) to share for the building up of the Kingdom of God. In Catholic Charities we celebrate and recognize in each one of the persons we serve that each is given a gift in the Spirit. We are all called to contribute our gifts to help build that Kingdom of God. It is our hope that as we work with each person/family, that we help them see their own gifts in the Spirit and how each person has dignity. We too must not be afraid, locked in a room. Rather, with the knowledge that the Spirit is with us, we are called to be witnesses to the Good News that God loves each person unconditionally.
Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate
Finance, therefore — through the renewed structures and operating methods that have to be designed after its misuse, which wreaked such havoc on the real economy — now needs to go back to being an instrument directed towards improved wealth creation and development. Insofar as they are instruments, the entire economy and finance, not just certain sectors, must be used in an ethical way so as to create suitable conditions for human development and for the development of peoples. It is certainly useful, and in some circumstances imperative, to launch financial initiatives in which the humanitarian dimension predominates. However, this must not obscure the fact that the entire financial system has to be aimed at sustaining true development. Above all, the intention to do good must not be considered incompatible with the effective capacity to produce goods. Financiers must rediscover the genuinely ethical foundation of their activity, so as not to abuse the sophisticated instruments which can serve to betray the interests of savers. Right intention, transparency, and the search for positive results are mutually compatible and must never be detached from one another. If love is wise, it can find ways of working in accordance with provident and just expediency, as is illustrated in a significant way by much of the experience of credit unions. (par. 65a)
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.htm
Some important date(s) this week:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/ByDate.aspx
See website for biographies of Saints and Blessed celebrated this week.
Veni Creator Spiritus ("Come creator Spirit") is a hymn normally sung in Gregorian Chant. It is believed to have been written by Rabanus Maurus in the 9th century. The hymn is normally associated with the Roman Catholic Church, where it is performed during the liturgical celebration of the feast of Pentecost (at both Terce and Vespers). It is also sung at occasions such as the entrance of Cardinals to the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope, as well as the consecration of bishops, the ordination of priests, the confirmation of children, the dedication of churches, the celebration of synods or councils, the coronation of kings and other solemn events
Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest,
and in our hearts take up Thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heav'nly aid,
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made
O Comforter, to Thee we cry,
Thou heav'nly gift of God most high,
Thou Fount of life, and Fire of love,
and sweet anointing from above.
O Finger of the hand divine,
the sevenfold gifts of grace are thine;
true promise of the Father thou,
who dost the tongue with power endow.
Thy light to every sense impart,
and shed thy love in every heart;
thine own unfailing might supply
to strengthen our infirmity.
Drive far away our ghostly foe,
and thine abiding peace bestow;
if thou be our preventing Guide,
no evil can our steps betide.
Thursday, June 16. Catholic Charities Staff Day. Reflections on the corporal works of mercy, the Catholic Charities Code of Ethics, and our Campaign to Reduce Poverty in Half by 2020
SHARING HOPE IN HARD ECONOMIC TIMES.
Catholic Charities provides Ohio Benefit Bank (OBB) services to help low-to-moderate income individuals and families access the public benefits, tax credits and work supports for which they are eligible. For more information, contact the Catholic Charities agency nearest you.
.
PAPAL INTENTIONS: June 2011
General Intention: That priests, united to the Heart of Christ, may always be true witnesses of the caring and merciful love of God.
Missionary Intention: That the Holy Spirit may bring forth from our communities numerous missionary vocations, willing to fully consecrate themselves to spreading the Kingdom of God.
Corporal Works of Mercy: The seven practices of charity toward our neighbor
Feed the hungry
Give drink to the thirsty
Clothe the naked
Shelter the homeless
Visit the sick
Visit those in prison
Bury the dead
Note: Please consider joining our
FACEBOOK CAUSE http://apps.facebook.com/causes/106889
FACEBOOK GROUP https://www.facebook.com/pages/Catholic-Charities-Diocese-of-Youngstown/138817639487339
TWITTER account, CCDOY, http://twitter.com/CCDOY
for current updates and calls to action that we can all use.
See our website at www.catholiccharitiesyoungstown.org for links to the our ministries and services.
For more information on Catholic Social Doctrine and its connection to our ministries, visit my blog at: http://corbinchurchthinking.blogspot.com/
Friday, June 3, 2011
MONDAY MORNING MISSION MEDITATION for the week of June 5, 2011
Catholic Charities. Providing Help. Creating Hope.
VISION: Believing in the presence of God in our midst, we proclaim the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the person by sharing in the mission of Jesus given to the Church. To this end, Catholic Charities works with individuals, families, and communities to help them meet their needs, address their issues, eliminate oppression, and build a just and compassionate society.
MISSION: Rooted in the Mission of the Diocese of Youngstown "to minister to the people in the six counties of northeastern Ohio . . .(and) to the world community", we are called to provide service to people in need, to advocate for justice in social structures, and to call the entire Church and other people of good will to do the same.
GOALS: Catholic Charities is devoted to helping meet basic human needs, strengthening families, building communities and empowering low-income people. Working to reduce poverty in half by 2020.
KEY VALUE: Hospitality
WHAT WE DO: Organizing Love. "As a community, the Church must practise love. Love thus needs to be organized if it is to be an ordered service to the community" (Deus Caritas Est, par. 20)
http://spiritualpaintings.com/images/08.09.12.3484.JPG
On Sunday (Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord Year A http://usccb.org/nab/060511a.shtml) we read in the Gospel of Matthew the account of Jesus’ acension into heaven to be with the Father. We read that the apostles had their doubts, but Jesus reassures them. They now have a very specific mission: to go out into the world and tell the Good News and makes disciples in every nation. Jesus promises that he will be with them “ always, until the end of the age.”
In Catholic Charities http://www.ccdoy.org , we at Catholic Charities too are given a part in that Great Commission. By our very witness and assistance to the poor and marginalized, we proclaim the Good News of God’s love and compassion for each person. We witness that we are not alone but are guided by the message and teachings of Jesus himself, to love God and love our neighbor. Sharing that Good News by our kind response, our direct aid, or by our words of comfort to someone struggling continues the apostolic mission to witness to the power of God’s love.
Reflection from Pope Benedict XVI's Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate
While reflecting on the theme of work, it is appropriate to recall how important it is that labour unions — which have always been encouraged and supported by the Church — should be open to the new perspectives that are emerging in the world of work. Looking to wider concerns than the specific category of labour for which they were formed, union organizations are called to address some of the new questions arising in our society: I am thinking, for example, of the complex of issues that social scientists describe in terms of a conflict between worker and consumer. Without necessarily endorsing the thesis that the central focus on the worker has given way to a central focus on the consumer, this would still appear to constitute new ground for unions to explore creatively. The global context in which work takes place also demands that national labour unions, which tend to limit themselves to defending the interests of their registered members, should turn their attention to those outside their membership, and in particular to workers in developing countries where social rights are often violated. The protection of these workers, partly achieved through appropriate initiatives aimed at their countries of origin, will enable trade unions to demonstrate the authentic ethical and cultural motivations that made it possible for them, in a different social and labour context, to play a decisive role in development. The Church's traditional teaching makes a valid distinction between the respective roles and functions of trade unions and politics. This distinction allows unions to identify civil society as the proper setting for their necessary activity of defending and promoting labour, especially on behalf of exploited and unrepresented workers, whose woeful condition is often ignored by the distracted eye of society. (par. 64)
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.htm
Some important date(s) this week:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/ByDate.aspx
See website for biographies of Saints and Blessed celebrated this week.
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THURSDAY JUNE 9. St. Columba. 7 December, 521; d. 9 June, 597. Abbot of Iona. Patron Saint of Diocese of Youngstown. He belonged to the Clan O'Donnell, and was of royal descent. His father's name was Fedhlimdh and that of his mother Eithne. On his father's side he was great-great-grandson of Niall of the Nine Hostages, an Irish king of the fourth century. His baptismal name was Colum, which signifies a dove, hence the latinized form Columba. It assumes another form in Colum-cille, the suffix meaning "of the Churches".
Born probaly in Donegal Ireland studied at Moville under St. Finnian then in Leinster at the monastery of Clonard under another St. Finnian. He was ordained before he was twenty-five and spent the next fifteen years preaching and setting up foundations at Derry, Durrow, and Kells. Possibly because of a family feud which resulted in the death of 3000 and for which he considered himself partly responsible he left Ireland at 42 and landed on the island of Iona off the coast of Scotland. There he built the monastery which was to become world famous. With SS Canice and Comgall he spread the gospel to the Picts; he also developed a monastic rule which many followed until the introduction of St. Benedicts. He died on Iona and is also known as Colm, Colum and Columcille.
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SATURDAY JUNE 11. St. Barnabas, a Jew of Cyprus, comes as close as anyone outside the Twelve to being a full-fledged apostle. He was closely associated with St. Paul (he introduced Paul to Peter and the other apostles) and served as a kind of mediator between the former persecutor and the still suspicious Jewish Christians.
When a Christian community developed at Antioch, Barnabas was sent as the official representative of the Church of Jerusalem to incorporate them into the fold. He and Paul instructed in Antioch for a year, after which they took relief contributions to Jerusalem.
Later, Paul and Barnabas, now clearly seen as charismatic leaders, were sent by Antioch officials to preach to the Gentiles. Enormous success crowned their efforts. After a miracle at Lystra, the people wanted to offer sacrifice to them as gods—Barnabas being Zeus, and Paul, Hermes—but the two said, “We are of the same nature as you, human beings. We proclaim to you good news that you should turn from these idols to the living God” (see Acts 14:8-18).
But all was not peaceful. They were expelled from one town, they had to go to Jerusalem to clear up the ever-recurring controversy about circumcision and even the best of friends can have differences. When Paul wanted to revisit the places they had evangelized, Barnabas wanted to take along John Mark, his cousin, author of the Gospel (April 25), but Paul insisted that, since Mark had deserted them once, he was not fit to take along now. The disagreement that followed was so sharp that Barnabas and Paul separated, Barnabas taking Mark to Cyprus, Paul taking Silas to Syria. Later, they were reconciled—Paul, Barnabas and Mark.
When Paul stood up to Peter for not eating with Gentiles for fear of his Jewish friends, we learn that “even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy” (see Galatians 2:1-13).
SHARING HOPE IN HARD ECONOMIC TIMES.
In the first quarter of 2011, Catholic Charities provided services to 5,015 households in the Diocese of Youngstown. Your generous support for the Annual Bishop’s Appeal for Catholic Charities and Church enables us to serve others in Jesus’ Name. Thank you for your kindness and compassion toward our neighbors in need.
PAPAL INTENTIONS: June 2011
General Intention: That priests, united to the Heart of Christ, may always be true witnesses of the caring and merciful love of God.
Missionary Intention: That the Holy Spirit may bring forth from our communities numerous missionary vocations, willing to fully consecrate themselves to spreading the Kingdom of God.
Corporal Works of Mercy: The seven practices of charity toward our neighbor
Feed the hungry
Give drink to the thirsty
Clothe the naked
Shelter the homeless
Visit the sick
Visit those in prison
Bury the dead
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for current updates and calls to action that we can all use.
See our website at www.catholiccharitiesyoungstown.org for links to the our ministries and services.
For more information on Catholic Social Doctrine and its connection to our ministries, visit my blog at: http://corbinchurchthinking.blogspot.com/
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