Our Lady of Perpetual Help (1863)

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

(1863)

Our Lady of Perpetual Help
O.D.M. pinxit

The image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help measures around 50 centimeters (25 inches) high. It is in the Byzantine style, painted on wood with a gold leaf background. The Virgin is there with Her divine Child; each of them has a golden halo. Two Angels, one on the right and the other on the left, present the instruments of the Passion to the Child Jesus who is frightened, whereas the Blessed Virgin looks at the pathetic scene with calm, resigned sorrow.

The image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help had long been venerated on the Isle of Crete. The inhabitants of that island, fleeing a Turkish invasion, took it with them to Rome. By the invocation of Mary under the title of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the ship transporting Her holy image was saved from a terrible storm.

On March 27, 1499, the portrait of the Virgin of Perpetual Help was carried in triumph through the streets of Rome. Preceded by the clergy and followed by the people, it was placed over the main altar of St. Matthew's church, near St. Mary Major. Thanks to the care of the Augustinian friars, the holy image became the object of a very popular devotion which God rewarded for several centuries with many miracles.

During the disturbances of the French Revolution (1789-1793), the French troops occupying Rome destroyed St. Matthew's church. One of the friars serving in that sanctuary had the time to secretly remove the miraculous Madonna. He hid it so well that for sixty years, no one knew what had become of the famous painting.

God permitted a concourse of providential circumstances which led to rediscovery of the venerated image. In 1865, in order to return the holy picture to the same spot it had been prayed to before, Pius IX gave orders to have it taken to the Esquiline Hill, in St. Alphonsus Liguori's church, built on the site of old St. Matthew's. On April 26, 1866, the Redemptorists solemnly enthroned Our Lady of Perpetual Help in their chapel.

From that time on, thanks to the zeal of the sons of Saint Alphonsus and the countless miracles obtained in their pious sanctuary, devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help has had an extraordinary development. To acknowledge and perpetuate the remembrances of these precious favors, the Vatican Chapter crowned the holy image in great pomp on June 23, 1867.

In 1876, Pope Pius IX erected an Archconfraternity in St. Alphonsus' church under the title of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Today the Blessed Virgin is invoked by this name throughout the Western Church.

 

Forty years after emergency, the writing is on the wall

Forty years is time enough to mull over the happenings of the pre-emergency and post-emergency periods.

By Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ
Ahmedabad:  Forty years ago on the night of June 25th – 26th 1975, the country stood still as one of the darkest chapters of its history unfolded. For those whose memories will never fail, it was surely a reminder of those immortal words of Pandit Nehru when Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in 1948, “the light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere”. Very strangely those words of Nehru was an apt quote for the misdeeds of his own daughter Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India who on that dark night of 1975 promulgated emergency rule in India and in a matter of moments extinguished the light in the lives of many Indians.

Forty years is time enough to mull over the happenings of the pre-emergency and post-emergency periods. Several reasons were cited for the declaration of emergency; these included: protests and strikes which had paralysed the Government and hurt the economy greatly; massive political opposition and above all several Congressmen already leaving the party because of the dictatorial tendencies of Indira Gandhi.

The emergency rule effectively suspended the rights and freedoms guaranteed to the citizens of the country. There was a massive crackdown on civil liberties and on every form of political opposition. Thousands were arrested all over the country and some organisations were even banned. Elections to parliament and state governments were suspended and the judiciary became a willing tool in the hands of the Government. Indira’s son Sanjay Gandhi became de facto ‘a super power’ initiating a compulsory sterilisation programme in order to limit the growth of the country’s population. Freedom of speech and expression was totally suspended with the ‘Indian Express’ coming out with a blank lead edit on June 28th 1975 as a sign of protest. Emergency however in India did not last and on March 23rd 1977 it officially ended.

Forty years after that black day, the writing on the wall today seems to be loud and clear! One only needs to look around and to see how systematically the sanctity of the Constitution is being violated and how the freedoms and rights of the ordinary citizens are being curtailed. Civil rights activists are under attack; those who question Government policies and rulers of today are subject to all kinds of intimidation and harassment. This Government clearly brooks no dissent. “Foreign money” has become the big bogey. Those who receive and use it for the rights of the people, to protect the forests, the lands and waters are at the receiving end; on the other hand, big business and other vested interests can receive foreign funds to profiteer and to destroy what is precious to the ordinary citizens of the land.

Education is being tampered with as never before. History textbooks are being manipulated to suit the whims and fancies of those who govern us. Prestigious bodies like the Indian Council of Historical Research, the NCERT and the IITs have lost visionaries because of Government interference. Even the much sought after Film Institute of India has been foisted with a Director who has questionable credentials. The way media is co-opted and even hounded is a clear sign that all is not well in the world’s largest democracy. Lies and half-truths rule the roost. Convicted murderers are out on the streets with political patronage.

In a far-ranging interview to a newspaper, very recently on the fortieth anniversary on the imposition of the emergency, Mr. LK. Advani, the doyen of the BJP minces no words when he says, “forces that can crush democracy are stronger today, I don’t have confidence it (Emergency) cannot happen again”!!!

The writing is on the wall: need we say more?

* Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ is the Director of PRASHANT, the Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace.

Thai Buddhists to help anti-Muslim Myanmar monks set up radio station

Media groups promises to donate US$44,000-worth of equipment.

International:  Thai Buddhists have offered to help a network of hardline anti-Muslim Myanmar monks set up a radio station to spread their message across a nation where sectarian hatred is on the rise.

More than a dozen Thai Buddhists were among hundreds who attended a two-day conference in Yangon over the weekend organized by the Ma Ba Tha movement.

During the meeting a Thai group which produces religious radio and television programs in the kingdom promised to donate US$44,000-worth of radio equipment to the Myanmar movement.

The offer was of "support not with money, but with equipment and the installation of a radio station, worth about 1.5 million baht," Woottisarn Panaree, vice president of the National Thai Buddhism and Culture Mass Media Association, who attended the meeting, told AFP on Wednesday.

"Radio and television plays an important role in preaching Buddhism in Thailand. It will help them preach Buddhism in Myanmar," he added.

Myanmar is wrestling with growing Buddhist nationalist sentiment driven by hardline monks, who have urged boycotts of Muslim shops and proposed a raft of deeply controversial laws that critics say are discriminatory.

Their rise has accompanied several bouts of religious violence between Muslims and Buddhists, mainly in Rakhine State.

In recent weeks nationalist monks have been at the forefront of protests against the country's Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority from Rakhine who have fled in their tens of thousands since communal violence broke out there in 2012.

Compared to its western neighbor, Thai Buddhist nationalism plays a less prominent role in the country's politics and is not as openly hostile towards Islam.

Pornchai Pinyapong, president of the Bangkok-based World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth, said he attended the meeting in a personal capacity.

He said both countries had "difficulties" with Islam that needed to be addressed to protect Buddhism.

"When we see Rakhine state in Myanmar, it's the same problem as the southern part of Thailand," he told AFP, referring to Thailand's long battle against ethnic Malay Muslims in the country's deep south.

Unlike Thailand's south there is no Muslim insurgency in Rakhine. Instead more than 100,000 Rohingya live in fetid camps after dozens were killed by Buddhist mobs in the 2012 bloodletting.

Pornchai rejected suggestions that Myanmar's hardline Buddhist monks routinely use hate speech against Muslims.

"They don't encourage anyone to destroy the mosque or kill Muslim people, they just want to protect Buddhism for the next generation," he said.

"I think it's good for monks to get together to protect Buddhism," he added.

Source: UCAN/AFP

Couples who buy abducted children to face prosecution in China

Trafficking fueled by traditional preference for sons and controversial one-child policy.

More than 13,000 children were rescued by police in China last year, according to state media.

Beijing:  Buyers of abducted children in China will face criminal punishment under proposed laws that would remove an exemption from prosecution, reports said Thursday, as authorities clamp down on the flourishing child trafficking industry.

More than 13,000 children were rescued by police in China last year, the China Daily said, with demand for stolen youngsters fueled by a traditional preference for sons and a one-child limit for some couples.

Current law imposes harsh sentences for child trafficking, including the death penalty in certain cases.

Buyers of kidnapped children can be sentenced to up to three years in jail, but are exempt from criminal proceedings if they have not abused the children or obstructed efforts to rescue them.

The revised criminal law will eliminate the exception and "increase penalties for those who buy children", the state-run newspaper said, without specifying potential sentences.

"Buyers would receive a less severe penalty if they did not abuse the child or attempt to hinder rescue efforts," it added.

The revised law was welcomed by Feng Jianlin, a father from Shanxi province in northern China whose daughter was kidnapped in 2008 when she was nine.

"I think those who buy children should be punished, and the proposed law will promote China's anti-baby trafficking campaign," said Feng, who has set up an information-sharing website which has seen 14 children reunited with their biological parents.

"Currently people do not break the law if they buy children, so the trafficking business is rampant in China," he added.

Parents of missing children commonly use the Internet to search for their offspring, and thousands have posted photos of babies and toddlers on website Baby Come Home, as well as sharing information on Feng's website.

Babies in mortuaries

Child trafficking has grown into a huge problem in China, where this year alone police have broken up criminal gangs found keeping babies in disused mortuaries and confining pregnant women to factories before selling their newborns.

Earlier this year, a Chinese mother in the central province of Henan was charged with human trafficking for allegedly conspiring with a doctor to sell her baby boy for almost US$7,000.

In 2013, several families in Shaanxi province accused a doctor of persuading them to give up their children shortly after birth, allegations that led to a number of local officials being sacked.

Almost 13,000 people involved in human trafficking were punished between 2010 and last year, the China Daily said, citing the Supreme People's Court.

More than half of those convicted received sentences ranging from five years in prison to death.

The new criminal law was submitted Wednesday to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp parliament.

Other revisions include harsher punishments for those involved in "cults or superstitious activities", and widening the list of activities that can be defined as "terrorism", state news agency Xinhua said.

China has previously cracked down harshly on groups it labels "cults", most notably the Falungong spiritual movement, which was banned in the late 1990s.

More recently the outlawed "Quannengshen" — which can be translated as the Church of Almighty God — has been targeted.

A father and daughter who belonged to Quannengshen were executed in February, having been convicted of beating a woman to death at a McDonald's restaurant, reportedly after she rebuffed their attempts to recruit her.

China has also rolled out tough measures to confront what it labels "terrorism" in the largely Muslim region of Xinjiang, sentencing to death scores of people while hundreds have been jailed or detained.

Source: AFP/UCAN

Rights take back seat during US-China dialogue

Talks focus on pressing issues including tensions in the South China Sea.

US Secretary of State John Kerry (right) and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang (left) participate in closing statements on June 24 at the Department of State in Washington, DC

International:  The United States has paid minor attention to China’s rights problems during high-level dialogue ending in Washington, DC on Wednesday, rights groups said.

With talks focusing on pressing issues including tensions in the South China Sea, the US side headed by Secretary of State John Kerry made few public references to China’s rights situation as it remained unclear what was discussed in private.

Before the annual US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, nine rights groups including China Aid and International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) wrote a letter to the US government calling for rights to be fully addressed with visiting Chinese officials.

“We are receiving reports that human rights concerns were not raised by the United States as strongly as we had hoped,” ICT’s President Matteo Mecacci told ucanews.com last night.

The letter urged US officials to raise cases such as underground Pastor Yang Rongli, sentenced to seven years in prison in 2009 for “disturbing public order”, and to report publicly about rights discussions with Chinese officials.

In his closing address yesterday, Kerry said he had asked questions about China’s rights record during three days of meetings covering everything from the environment to cyber-security, without giving details.

“It is important for the US to respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” responded China’s Vice Premier Wang Yang sitting alongside Kerry. “In advancing human rights, China’s achievements are there for all to see.”

At the end of the opening day of talks on Monday, a senior State Department official said the US was seeking a “basis for better communication” on freedom issues.

Since Xi Jinping became president in March of 2013, rights groups have complained of rising intolerance of house churches, the removal of hundreds of crosses in Zhejiang province and growing persecution of Muslims in restive Xinjiang.

Source: UCAN

Pope Francis isn’t preachin' to the choir with ‘Laudato Si’

Just as St Paul did, the Holy Father is reaching out to non-Christians.

By Fr Dwight Longenecker
International:  Pope Francis’ new encyclical has got the world buzzing. Conservative and liberal commentators have weighed in, and there seems to be more interest in the pope’s ideas among non-believers than among the faithful.

One writer observed that few homilies were preached about the encyclical at Mass on Sunday, and I’ve noticed a surprising lack of interest and real comment among Catholic bloggers and journalists. I think there is a good reason for this, and it is rooted in the methods of evangelization used by the two pillars of the Church — St Peter and St Paul.

In the Acts of the Apostles the early Church leaders appoint Peter as the apostle to the Jews and they assign the mission to the non-Jewish peoples to St Paul. It is very informative, therefore, to observe their two different methods of preaching. Peter preaches to the choir. In other words, he is preaching to the believers, and his message is explicitly religious and uncompromising. In his sermon to the Jewish hearers at Pentecost, he reviews their religious history, excoriates them for their murder of Jesus Christ and calls them to repentance and faith. Peter talks their religious language and calls for a direct religious response.

Contrast that with St Paul’s method. He travels to Athens and preaches to the pagan philosophers. His outreach is not explicitly religious, and he does not assume that they know and understand his Jewish terminology and expected behaviors. Instead he goes into their territory and uses their language. He connects with their philosophical concepts and relates to their interests and culture. He recognizes their gods and sees that they worship an “unknown God” and from that connecting point he goes on to tell them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. St Paul does not push for an instant response, and realizes that the most he may be able to do is plant seeds of the gospel by presenting the truth of Jesus Christ in an acceptable, intriguing and attractive way.

The genius of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si is that he is preaching like St Paul. The pope realizes how attractive the figure of St Francis is to many people who are not Catholic believers. He also realizes how important the issue of the environment is to many who are outside the Church.

Laudato Si is an excellent example of how we should evangelize our culture. In re-reading the encyclical it is fascinating how little explicitly religious and theological language the pope uses. At its best the wording is accessible to all and presents the Catholic faith with simplicity and mystical charm. Unfortunately, the encyclical sometimes lapses into technical arguments and abstruse specialist language, but this happens when he discusses economic, political and ecological issues. This does not happen when the pope is discussing the spiritual and theological truths.

In Laudato Si, Pope Francis has been able to connect with non-Catholics where they are, and show them how their own concerns connect with deeper Catholic truths. He successfully integrates a theology of creation into the ecology debate. He affirms, as so many environmentalists affirm, that “all things are connected”. In doing so he then connects the rights of the unborn, the needs of the poor, the rights of immigrants, the needs of the elderly and disabled, and the rightful demands of the workers. By affirming the truths we shares with non-believers, Pope Francis is able to open the door to the deeper truths of the Catholic faith. By meeting them on their ground he is able to point them toward something greater.

In a world in which so many automatically dismiss the claims of the Catholic faith, Pope Francis opens new avenues for discussion. Where so many are confused or alienated by religious jargon and liturgical or theological terminology, Pope Francis relates with relevant language and accessible concepts. In a society where so many are cut off from religion by what seem to be archaic rituals and out of date language, the pope attempts to speak plainly to a topic of widespread concern and interest. Where so many have learned to distrust and dismiss religion, Pope Francis has reached out in vulnerability and trust.

As he says in Laudato Si (quoting St Augustine), the faith is “ever ancient and ever new”. Addressing topics like bio-engineering, techno science, genetic manipulation and global economics, the pope shows the world that the Catholic Church has the authority, intellectual muscle and integrity to speak to a global audience about issues that concern us all.

Ever since Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum in 1891, the Catholic Church has spoken to the whole human family with a clear voice and global concern. The Church’s social teaching applies the Christian gospel with deep compassion for the needs of our day, and in doing so not only guides the whole human race with wisdom and continuity, but also shares the good news with the same method and message of St Paul.

Fr Dwight Longenecker is an author, blogger, and the parish priest of Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Greenville, South Carolina, USA.

Source: Aleteia

Jesuit General Nicolas plans to resign next year

Many have marked the similarities between Nicolas and former Superior General Pedro Arrupe.

International:  Superior General of the Jesuits Father Adolf Nicholas will offer his resignation when the General Congregation of the society begins meeting in Rome October next year, Jesuit media reported.

Father Nicolas, now 78, was elected as the Order’s thirtieth Superior General on 19 January 2008, succeeding the Dutch Fr. Peter Hans Kolvenbach.

He will be the third General in the history to resign. The previous General, Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, did that at the 35th General Congregation in 2008.

His predecessor Father General, Father Pedro Arrupe, submitted his request for resignation several times to Pope St. John Paul II who finally approved it only after Fr. Arrupe was severely handicapped by a massive stroke.

Many have marked the similarities between Nicolas and former Superior General Pedro Arrupe.

Father Arrupe, like his eventual successor, was a Spanish missionary in Japan. Nicolas has described Arrupe, whom he had earlier had as Provincial Superior, as a "great missionary, a national hero, a man on fire".

He leads a society of 18,500 Jesuits across the world.

Jesuit Generals are elected for life, according to the constitution of the congregation and therefore resignation and election of a General needs papal approval and special gathering of General Congregation.

After obtaining papal approval, the General through a secret letter seek the opinion all the Jesuit provincials, who currently number 85. If majority of them the agree, he calls for a General Congregation which may accept or reject his offer to resign.

Father Nicolas has followed these steps, and has convoked the 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus (only #36 in more than 500 years!), set to meet in Rome on October 2, 2016.

Father Nicolas, wrote in a letter to the whole Society: "Reflecting on the coming years, I have reached the personal conviction that I should take the needed steps towards submitting my resignation to a General Congregation.”

Source: Jesuit Current, Thailand

Vatican's Ramadan message delivered to Indian Muslim scholar

The Vatican message comes from Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical Commission for Interreligious Dialogue.

India:  A team of Jesuit scholars promoting inter-religious activity in India have visited Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and delivered Vatican's message to Muslims, wishing them a joyful month of Ramzan and Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of Ramadan.

Jesuit Father Thomas V Kunnunkal, President of Islamic Studies Association (Delhi), along with Indologist and retired theology professor Father T. K. John and Jesuit theologians P.R. John and Victor Edwin of Vidyajyti College of Theology met the Muslim leader in his New Delhi house on Monday.

The Vatican message comes from Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical Commission for Interreligious Dialogue. It has become customary for the Vatican commission to issue such messages to Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists on their annual feast days.

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is a noted Islamic scholar and peace activist. He has received, among others, the Demiurgus Peace International Award, under the patronage of the former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. He also received Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honor and several other national and international recognitions considering his peace activities.

He has also translated the Quran in simple and contemporary English and has written a commentary on the Qur’an.

The Vatican message stressed peace and said violence becomes even more heinous when come in the name of religion. “No one can kill another in the name of God …This would be a double crime: against God and against the person himself.”

“There is great need of our prayer: for justice, for peace and security in the world; for those who are far from the right path of life and who commit violence in the name of religion, that they might return to God and change [their] life; for the poor and the sick," the message said.

It wished that "the fruits of Ramadan and the joy of ‘Id al-Fitr may bring about peace and prosperity, enhancing your human and spiritual growth.”

Maulana Khan received the letter and commented that the political interpretation of Islam is the root cause of Muslim militancy. He said that political interpretation of Islam is totally wrong and that it violates the spirit of the Quran.

He said the ideologues, who invented the political interpretation of Islam, were born in very politically turbulent times and thus their interpretation was affected by the times they lived and worked.

Press release

Court issues notice on state employees holding diocesan posts

Rules prohibit government employees holding positions in religious and sectarian organizations.

Madurai:  A Church of South India parishioner has moved the High Court in Tamil Nadu against government employees holding positions in his Madurai-Ramnad diocese in violation of state rules.

The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered to issue notice to Tamil Nadu government and church authorities on the petition.

The petition sought action against government employees and teachers of aided schools allegedly holding posts of diocesan council members in violation of Government Servants Conduct Rules.

Hearing the petition of Julius Jawahar Devakandan, the member of CSI Cathedral in Madurai, Justice R.Mahadevan ordered notice to officials, including the Chief Secretary and Secretaries of education department, the Bishop of Diocess of Madurai Ramnad and Church of South India (CSI).

The petition said according to ruels government servants, including those working in a government-aided organisation, are prohibited from holding any post in communal and religious organisations.

He said elections were held once in three years for the Pastorates, which managed 150 educational institutions, including schools.

Most of the diocese educational institutes were aided by the government and the teachers working in them were governed by government rules.

Several members of the Pastorates were also working in government organisation, he said.

He claimed nearly 52 diocese council members in various pastorates were working as teaching and non-teaching staff in government and government-aided schools and colleges which was against the rules and sought action against them.

Source: Business Standard

No order against Caritas India: government

An official of Caritas India, however, said the case was related to last year when the organisation was notified by the bank concerned.

File photo

New Delhi:  The government, which has been criticized for targeting NGOs, Wednesday said that there was no order against Caritas India, an organization which is affiliated to the Vatican.

A Home Ministry spokesperson while referring to news appearing in a section of media claiming that Caritas India has been put under "prior approval category", gave details of the case and said the NGO had been remitted Rs 1.6 crore by the Netherlands-based donor which had been stopped, Press Trust of India reported.

"A Netherlands-based foreign donor agency Stichting Cordaid has been placed under prior approval category on August 6, 2012. Any inward remittance from this agency to any Indian NGO will be credited only after clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs," the spokesperson said.

He said a reference was received from Standard Chartered Bank's New Delhi branch seeking clearance for crediting of an inward remittance of Euro 2,30,000 (Rs 1.6 crore) from the Netherlands donor agency in favour of Caritas India, which is an NGO working in India registered under FCRA, 2010.

"Comments of security agency were sought and on the basis of the inputs received from them the matter is under consideration in the Ministry," he said.

An official of Caritas India, however, said the case was related to last year when the organisation was notified by the bank concerned.

"We made it categorically clear that if the government had objection over the donor agency, we will not take the money at all. Therefore, no such amount has been debited to our account," the official said.

The government has been cracking on various NGOs and has so far cancelled 15,876 licences of these entities under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act after the NGOs allegedly failed to submit their annual returns and complete other anomalies.

All the organizations were given proper notice by the Foreigners' Division of the Home Ministry with adequate time to reply before their FCRA licences were cancelled, official sources said.

Saints John and Paul Martyrs († 362)

Saints John and Paul

Martyrs
(† 362)

Saints John and Paul These two Saints were brothers and were officers of the Roman army in the days of Constantine the Great. They served in the house of Constance, daughter of Constantine, who was consecrated to God; their virtues and services to her father rendered them very dear to her. They would soon glorify God by a great moral victory; after despising the honors of the world, they triumphed by their martyrdom over its threats and torments.

With the aid of the liberality of the Christian princess, they were practicing many works of charity and mercy, until the deaths of both Constantine and Constance. Then, at the accession of Julian the Apostate to the imperial throne, they resigned their position in the palace. Julian had returned to the cult of idols and was attempting to re-establish it in the empire. The Christian brothers saw many wicked men prosper in their impiety, but were not dazzled by their example. They considered that worldly prosperity accompanied by impunity in sin is the most dreadful of all judgments, indicating reprobation. And history reveals how false and short-lived was the glittering prosperity of Julian.

While still in power the apostate attempted to win back these influential officers into active service. When he was refused, he gave them ten days to reconsider. The officer Terentianus, who at the end of that time brought to their house a little idol of Jupiter for their adoration, found them in prayer. In the middle of that night they were decapitated secretly in their own garden, since the emperor feared their execution might cause a sedition in Rome. He instigated a rumor that they had been exiled, but the demons took hold of possessed persons in Rome, and published the fact of their martyrdom everywhere.

The son of the officer who had slain them also became possessed, and it was only after their father, Terentianus, had prayed at the tomb of the martyrs that the child was liberated. This so impressed him that he became a Christian, with all his family, and wrote the history we have reported.

The martyrs, by their renouncement of favors and their heroic resistance, purchased an immense weight of never-fading glory, and were a spectacle worthy of God. Their house became a magnificent Christian basilica already at the end of the fourth century.

The truth about Pope Francis' encyclical and his critics

The truth about Pope Francis' encyclical and his critics

Many of those critical of the Holy Father are defending a system from which they benefit

The Holy Father’s release of his encyclical Laudato Si has produced the amusing, and bemusing, sight of conservative Catholics hauling out the arguments used by dissenting Catholics and looking at the pope with the same attitudes. Change a few words and you could be reading the liberal reactions to Blessed Paul VI and Humanae Vitae or to St John Paul II shutting the door on ordaining women to the priesthood or to Benedict XVI allowing the use of the old Mass.
My favorite recycled argument is the claim that if the pope doesn’t speak infallibly, you’re free to reject what he says, an argument first used to justify support for contraception when the pope banned it. Then, in the late sixties, conservative Catholics roundly rejected the idea, and rightly so. Now, it’s useful. Everything depends on whose ox is gored.
Several critics, for example, jumped on Francis’s passing comment about air conditioning. The pontiff wrote: “People may well have a growing ecological sensitivity but it has not succeeded in changing their harmful habits of consumption which, rather than decreasing, appear to be growing all the more. A simple example is the increasing use and power of air-conditioning. The markets, which immediately benefit from sales, stimulate ever greater demand. An outsider looking at our world would be amazed at such behavior, which at times appears self-destructive.” (Section 55)
The critics’ reaction was in essence: He criticizes air conditioning (haha, how silly) but the developing world needs it (haha, gotcha!). People not hitherto noted for great concern for the poor and the developing world suddenly became their caring defenders when they thought they had a stick with which to beat Francis. Many of the criticisms made of Francis and the encyclical have been of this same cheap sort.
The quote doesn’t even suggest eliminating air conditioning, especially where it’s needed. All it suggests is that we don’t use it more than we need to. It’s obvious that American homes don’t need to be the iceboxes many of them are and produce pollution they don’t need to produce. And seriously, who do we think cares more about the poor, Francis or his American critics?
I’ve been observing this settled dislike for Francis since he became pope (and wrote on it here), but even I have been surprised by how quickly Francis’s critics ran to criticize him and how complete was their rejection, and by the range and persistence of the reaction. I wouldn’t have thought so many people were so invested in conservative climate change orthodoxy and in a certain version of free market economics.
Some of his critics suggest that he’s playing for worldly approval or has been too much influenced by the world, or that this poor Argentinian just doesn’t understand modern economies. It’s an impertinent charge, but also an imprudent one, given that his critics are affluent white Westerners who are defending a system from which they’ve benefitted, not to mention how many of them work for organizations that get their money from political and economic conservatives. “He’s a creature of his situation” is not a game the wise critic starts. “I am rubber, you are glue,” as the children’s rhyme puts it.
Francis’s critics are all-in. Their rejection is total. They risk being prodigal sons who don’t come back.
But not every critic is, as I wrote in Ethika Politika. He has his implacable critics, for whom nothing short of his becoming a near-Lefebvreite and/or an American libertarian will do. But others, having wrung their hands, or licked their chops, in anticipation that Laudato Si would prove their pessimism right, seem to feel a little chastened. Which is something.
Francis invited discussion, and his Catholic critics are not wrong to disagree. A great many of them are wrong to disagree in the way they did. If you read only their articles, you’d think that the pope had given the Church nothing more than dubious or (as some of them think) ridiculous environmental and economic claims.
A better response, a more faithful response, it seems to me, is to read the pope with deference and humility, as a son listening to his father. We call the pope the Holy Father for a reason.
I’m now about the age my father was when my wife and I had our first child. I was on my own, an adult responsible for a wife and a baby, making a living in a competitive field. I knew things then that my father did not know and held some beliefs that differed from his. I was also, as I look back now, horribly over-confident.
My dad rarely gave advice unless asked and even then he tried not to say too much. But when he did tell me something he thought I ought to know, I listened to him very carefully. I stifled, sometimes with effort, my desire to object or contradict. Even when after much thought I still disagreed, I tried to find ways in which he was right. I read him with a hermeneutic of charity, if I can put it that way, because he was a wise man who loved me. Heaven knows he was not infallible, but as I look back now, he was right more often than I saw then.
This seems to me the way that a Catholic should read Pope Francis and in particular Laudato Si — especially if he is committed to environmental or economic positions he thinks the pope rejects or fails to understand. The pope’s criticism he should take as a challenge, not to disprove the pope but to re-examine his own commitments. He probably won’t change his convictions, and probably shouldn’t, but he might find that having wrestled with the encyclical, he holds them with new understanding or applies them in new ways. Intellectually, he will only gain if he reads the pope as a son (an adult son) listens to his father.
I think, for example, of the response of a priest whose emailed comments on the encyclical I saw. He — a man not known for over-optimistic readings of Church affairs — noted “the author's distinctive romanticism,” which he thought led to an over-critical attitude to modern capitalism, but wrote that the encyclical’s “chief stumbling block is that it is true — not just true, but achingly, woundingly true — evoking repentance, summoning all to gratitude and grace”. Some of Francis’ claims about climate change can be disputed, “but to dispute would be to quibble, since his argument stands independent of these”. This priest was not uncritical, but he saw the heart of what Francis is doing and saying.
The critic will, as I say, only gain if he reads the pope as a son listens to his father. But the benefit is not the point. The filial respect is. We don’t listen primarily because we get something from listening. We listen because we are sons of a father who speaks, as the vicar of Christ, and human and fallible though he be, for the Father.
David Mills, former executive editor of First Things, is a senior editor of The Stream, editorial director for Ethika Politika, and a columnist for several Catholic publications.

Source: Aleteia

Alternative education offers hope in the Philippines

Alternative education offers hope in the Philippines

Tens of thousands forced to drop out of school due to poverty working toward diplomas

As a child, Andrea Zaala dreamed of finishing school but poverty pulled her in another direction. The Leyte province native later got married, had children and moved on with her life. But even as she struggled to raise her family and care for her farm, she didn’t forget her original goal.
Last week, at the age of 75, Zaala donned her freshly pressed gown and waited for her name to be called to finally receive her high school diploma.
She was joined by some 700 "out-of-school youths" and mature students, who participated in a simple — but meaningful — graduation ceremony after passing the Education Department's Alternative Learning System program.
"This means everybody can do it. Whatever the age and status in life, as long as you are willing, you can achieve your dream," Zaala told ucanews.com.
As she walked to the stage, her daughter and granddaughter looked on proudly.
"I am very happy for her," said Medarda Macellones, 35, one of Andrea's six children.
For the 700 people who graduated last week, passing represents a real accomplishment. Roberto Mangaliman, supervisor for the government's alternative learning program in Leyte province, said the returnee students face significant obstacles.
"Most of them are already working and the older ones have families to attend to," he told ucanews.com. "We have student dropouts, too.”
Mangaliman said public support for such students is necessary "so that they will not feel like outcasts".
He called on the private sector to partner with the government to ensure that these learners "will have the same opportunity in life".
In 2001, the Philippine government established the alternative learning program to address the needs of those who did not have the chance to receive basic education because of poverty.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority released in April this year show that "one in every ten or about four million Filipino children and youth were out-of-school in 2013".
"Out-of-school children" are those between six to 14 years of age who are not attending school, while "out-of-school youth" are those age 15 to 24 years who are not attending school, have not finished any college or post secondary course, and are not working.
A 2013 functional literacy, education and mass media survey revealed that about 23 percent of the four million out-of-school children and youth stopped attending school after getting married.
Nineteen percent cited insufficient family income as the reason for not attending school. Another 19 percent said they “lacked interest” in schooling.
The alternative program, however, appears to have made real gains.
A decade on, nationwide functional literacy is up. Data from the National Statistics Office shows that in 2000, the Philippines had a 92.3 percent literacy rate. Ten years later, it rose to 97.5 percent.
The Alternative Learning System is not done in a formal school setting. Students gather in community learning centers, under the shade of a tree, in a house, or in a village hall.
There are about 4,000 centers across the country with about 1,000 teachers serving some 50,000 students.
Mark Loyd Lago, 25, from St Michael village in the town of Palo, finished high school with Zaala last week.
Lago quit school in 2004 and for ten years worked various odd jobs. "Soon I realized that my elementary diploma was not enough," he said.
"I don’t want my future family to suffer," Lago said when asked why he went back to school. His future plans include studying agriculture at college level.
His mother, Lozanta, cried seeing her son receiving his diploma. "I pity him. He had to stop going to school because of poverty, but we never lost hope," she said.
"I am thankful that there is this kind of government program. This gave Mark a second chance," Lozanta said.

செய்திகள்-25.06.15

செய்திகள்-25.06.15

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1.  அமெரிக்க யூத அமைப்பினருக்கு திருத்தந்தையின் பாராட்டு

2.  பிறரன்பே திருஅவையை நம்பிக்கைக்குரியதாக்கும் - திருத்தந்தை

3.  திருத்தந்தை : குறைவாகப் பேசி, அதிகமாகச் செவிமடுங்கள்

4.  திருத்தந்தை - ஒப்புரவு அருள் அடையாளத்தால், புதியதோர் இதயம்

5.  பிலடெல்பியா அனைத்துலக குடும்ப மாநாட்டின் விவரங்கள்

6.  அருள்சகோதரி நிர்மலாவின் மறைவுக்கு கர்தினால் கிரேசியஸின் இரங்கல் செய்தி

7.  இறைவனடி சேர்ந்த சிலிசியா முதுபெரும் தந்தை

8.  வாயுக்களின் வெளியேற்றத்தை, நெதர்லாந்து குறைக்கவேண்டும்

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1.  அமெரிக்க யூத அமைப்பினருக்கு திருத்தந்தையின் பாராட்டு

ஜூன்,25,2015. அண்மைக் காலங்களில் யூத மதத்திற்கும் கத்தோலிக்க மதத்திற்கும் இடையே சரியான புரிதல் இடம்பெறுவதற்கு, B’nai B’rith International எனப்படும் அமெரிக்க யூத அமைப்பு ஆற்றியுள்ள பணிகளுக்கு தன் பாராட்டுக்களை வெளியிட்டார், திருத்தந்தை பிரான்சிஸ்.

அமெரிக்க ஐக்கிய நாட்டில் வாழ்ந்த யூத சமுதாயத்திற்கு உதவுவதற்கென்று 1843ம் ஆண்டு துவக்கப்பட்ட இவ்வமைப்பின் அனைத்துலகப் பிரதிநிதிகள் குழுவை, இவ்வியாழனன்று திருப்பீடத்தில் சந்தித்து உரை வழங்கியபோது, திருத்தந்தை பிரான்சிஸ் தன் பாராட்டுக்களை வெளியிட்டார்.

வாழ்வையும், படைப்பையும் மதித்தல், மனித மாண்பு, நீதி, ஒருமைப்பாடு போன்ற துறைகளில், யூத மற்றும் கத்தோலிக்க மதத்தினர் ஒன்றிணைந்து உழைப்பது, சமூக முன்னேற்றத்திற்கும், அமைதிக்கும் நாம் ஆற்றும் சேவையாக இருக்கும் என்று திருத்தந்தை கூறினார்.

திருத்தந்தையர், புனித 23ம் யோவான், புனித 2ம் யோவான் பவுல் ஆகியோர் யூதர்களுடன் கொண்டிருந்த நல உறவையும், இரண்டாம் உலகப் போரின்போது, திருத்தந்தை புனித 23ம் யோவான் அவர்கள் பல யூதர்களைக் காப்பாற்றியதையும் திருத்தந்தை பிரான்சிஸ் அவர்கள் தன் உரையில் சுட்டிக்காட்டினார்.

ஏனைய மறைகளோடு திருஅவைக்கு உள்ள உறவு பற்றிய அறிக்கையான, Nostra Aetate என்ற கிறிஸ்தவ மடல் வெளியிடப்பட்டதன் 50ம் ஆண்டு கொண்டாட்டங்கள் குறித்தும் திருத்தந்தை தன் உரையில் நினைவுறுத்தினார்.

ஆதாரம் : / வத்திக்கான் வானொலி

2.  பிறரன்பே திருஅவையை நம்பிக்கைக்குரியதாக்கும் - திருத்தந்தை

ஜூன்,25,2015. திருஅவைசார் பாப்பிறை கல்விக் கழகத்தில் பயில்வோரை இவ்வியாழனன்று சந்தித்து உரை வழங்கினார் திருத்தந்தை பிரான்சிஸ்.

திருபீடத்தின் வெளியுறவுத் துறை உட்பட பல்வேறு திருஅவைசார் பணிகளில் ஈடுபட பயிற்சிபெறும் அருள் பணியாளர்களுக்கு உரை வழங்கியத் திருத்தந்தை, உரோமைத் தலைமையகத்தின் உண்மை அதிகாரம் என்பது அதன் பிறரன்பே என்று கூறினார்.

இந்தப் பிறரன்பே திருஅவையை மக்களிடையே நம்பிக்கைக்குரியதாக மாற்ற உதவியாய் உள்ளது என்றும் எடுத்துரைத்தத் திருத்தந்தை, எந்த ஒரு பகுதியில் செயலாற்றினாலும், அப்பகுதியின் கலாச்சார அளவுகோல்களையும், சமுதாயத் தேவைகளையும் புரிந்துகொண்டு செயலாற்றவேண்டிய தேவையையும் வலியுறுத்தினார்.

பயிரிடுவதற்குத் தயாராக இருக்கும் ஒரு நிலத்திற்காகக் காத்திராமல், ஒவ்வொரு நிலத்தையும் பயிர் வழங்கும் நிலமாக மாற்ற, நாமே களத்தில் இறங்கி உழைக்க வேண்டியதன் அவசியத்தையும் எடுத்துரைத்தார், திருத்தந்தை பிரான்சிஸ்.

உலகின் எப்பகுதிக்குச் சென்றாலும், அங்குள்ள தேவைகளை உணர்ந்து செயல்படவேண்டும் என்றுரைத்தத் திருத்தந்தை, ஒவ்வொரு கண்டத்தின் இன்றைய அடிப்படை தேவைகள் என்ன என்பதையும் விளக்கிக் கூறினார்.

ஆதாரம் : / வத்திக்கான் வானொலி

3.  திருத்தந்தை : குறைவாகப் பேசி, அதிகமாகச் செவிமடுங்கள்

ஜூன் 25,2015. மேய்ப்புப் பணியில் ஈடுபடுவோர் குறைவாகப் பேசி நிறைவாகச் செவிமடுப்பவர்களாக இருக்கவேண்டும் என அழைப்பு விடுத்தார், திருத்தந்தை பிரான்சிஸ்.

தான் தங்கியிருக்கும் சாந்தா மார்த்தா இல்ல சிற்றாலயத்தில், இவ்வியாழன் காலை திருப்பலி நிறைவேற்றி மறையுரை வழங்கிய திருத்தந்தை பிரான்சிஸ் அவர்கள், ‘எடுத்துரைத்தல், செயல்படுதல், செவிமடுத்தல்' என்ற மூன்று வார்த்தைகளை மையமாக வைத்து கருத்துக்களை வழங்கினார்.

'ஆண்டவரே, ஆண்டவரே என்று தன்னை அழைப்பவர் எல்லாரும் இறையரசில் நுழைய முடியாது’ என இயேசு கூறிய வார்த்தைகளை நினைவூட்டிய திருத்தந்தை பிரான்சிஸ் அவர்கள், பலர் எடுத்துரைக்கின்றனர், செயல்படுகின்றனர், ஆனால், இறைவார்த்தைக்கு செவிமடுக்காததாக அவர்களின் செயல்பாடுகள் உள்ளன என்றார்.

என் வார்த்தைகளைக் கேட்டு அதன்படி நடப்பவர்கள் பாறை நிலத்தின்மீது வீட்டைக் கட்டிய அறிவாளிக்கு ஒப்பாவர் என இயேசு கூறியதையும் மேற்கோள்காட்டி, செவிமடுத்தலின் முக்கியத்துவத்தை வலியுறுத்தினார், திருத்தந்தை.

நாம் எவ்வளவுதான் சிறந்த செயல்களை ஆற்றினாலும், செவிமடுப்பதற்குரிய திறந்த மனதைக் கொண்டிராவிடில், அதனால் பயனில்லை எனவும் கூறிய திருத்தந்தை பிரான்சிஸ் அவர்கள், இயேசுவின் வார்த்தைக்குச் செவிமடுத்து, அதை பாறையாகக்கொண்டு அதன்மீது நம் வீட்டைக் கட்டுவோம் என்றார்.

இறைவார்த்தைக்கு செவிமடுத்து அதன்வழி செயலாற்றிய அன்னை தெரேசாவின் எடுத்துக்காட்டையும் தன் மறையுரையில் முன்வைத்தார் திருத்தந்தை.

ஆதாரம் : வத்திக்கான் வானொலி

4.  திருத்தந்தை - ஒப்புரவு அருள் அடையாளத்தால், புதியதோர் இதயம்

ஜூன்,25,2015. ஒப்புரவு அருள் அடையாளத்தில், இயேசு நம்மை வரவேற்று, நமக்கு புதியதோர் இதயத்தை வழங்குகிறார் என்ற வார்த்தைகளை, திருத்தந்தை பிரான்சிஸ் அவர்கள், தன் டுவிட்டர் செய்தியாக, இவ்வியாழனன்று வெளியிட்டார்.

"நம் பாவங்கள் அனைத்தோடும் நம்மை ஒப்புரவு அருள் அடையாளத்தில் வரவேற்று சந்திக்கும் இயேசு, அவர் அன்பு கூர்வதுபோல நாமும் அன்பு கூரவல்ல ஒரு புதிய இதயத்தை நமக்குத் தருகிறார்” என்ற வார்த்தைகளை, தன் டுவிட்டர் செய்தியாகக் கூறியுள்ளார் திருத்தந்தை.

ஒன்பது மொழிகளில் ஒவ்வொருநாளும் டுவிட்டர் செய்திகளை வழங்கிவரும் திருத்தந்தையின் @pontifex என்ற இணையதளத்தில், இதுவரை 628 டுவிட்டர் செய்திகள் பதிவாகியுள்ளன; மற்றும், இச்செய்திகளை தொடர்வோர் எண்ணிக்கை 64,09,371 பேர் என்று இந்த இணையத்தளம் கூறுகிறது.

மேலும், இவ்வியாழன் காலையில், கிறிஸ்தவ பிறரன்பு அமைப்பான Knights of Maltaவின் தலைவர், Matthew Festing, திருப்பீட பொருளாதாரத் துறையின் செயலர், கர்தினால் ஜார்ஜ் பெல், பெரு நாட்டு ஆயர் பேரவையின் 4 ஆயர்கள் ஆகியோரையும் சந்தித்து உரையாடினார் திருத்தந்தை.

ஆதாரம் : / வத்திக்கான் வானொலி

5.  பிலடெல்பியா அனைத்துலக குடும்ப மாநாட்டின் விவரங்கள்

ஜூன்,25,2015. அமெரிக்க ஐக்கிய நாட்டில் இவ்வாண்டு செப்டம்பர் மாதம் இடம்பெற உள்ள அனைத்துலக குடும்ப மாநாட்டின் தயாரிப்பாக, இவ்வியாழனன்று திருப்பீடத் தகவல் தொடர்பு அலுவலகத்தில் இடம்பெற்ற கூட்டத்தில், திருஅவை அதிகாரிகளுடன், ஒரு முதிய தம்பதியரும் உரையாற்றினர்.

செப்டம்பர் மாதம் 22ம் தேதி முதல், 27ம் தேதி முடிய அமெரிக்க ஐக்கிய நாட்டின் பிலடெல்பியாவில் இடம்பெற உள்ள அனைத்துலகக் குடும்ப மாநாட்டையொட்டி, திருப்பீட குடும்பப்பணி அவையின் தலைவர், பேராயர் Vincenzo Paglia, பிலடெல்பியா மறைமாவட்டத்தின் பேராயர், Charles Joseph Chaput, துணை ஆயர், John McIntyre, அம்மறைமாவட்டத்தில் 50 ஆண்டு திருமண வாழ்வைச் சிறப்பித்துள்ள Jerry மற்றும் Lucille Francesco தம்பதியர் ஆகியோர் இவ்வியாழனன்று பத்திரிகையாளர் கூட்டத்தில் கலந்துகொண்டனர்.

திருஅவை மற்றும் சமூகத்தின் மையமாக விளங்கும் குடும்பங்களின் சாட்சிய உரைகள், பிலடெல்பியா கருத்தரங்கில் இடம்பெறும் என்றும், இறுதி நாளில் திருத்தந்தை பிரான்சிஸ் அவர்கள், புனித லூக்காவின் நற்செய்தியை, ஓர் அடையாளமாக, ஐந்து கண்டங்களில் இருந்து வரும் ஐந்து தம்பதியருக்கு வழங்குவார் என்றும் பத்திரிக்கையாளர் கூட்டத்தில் அறிவிக்கப்பட்டது.

இதுவரை 100க்கும் மேற்பட்ட நாடுகளிலிருந்து 11,821 பேர், பிலடெல்பியா அனைத்துலகக் குடும்ப மாநாட்டில் பங்கேற்கப்போவதாக பதிவு செய்துள்ளனர் என்று அறிவிக்கப்பட்டது.

ஆதாரம் : / வத்திக்கான் வானொலி

6.  அருள்சகோதரி நிர்மலாவின் மறைவுக்கு கர்தினால் கிரேசியஸின் இரங்கல் செய்தி

ஜூன் 25,2015. அன்னை தெரேசாவின் பிறரன்புச் சகோதரிகள் சபைத் தலைவியாகப் பணியாற்றி, அண்மையில் இறைபதம் சேர்ந்த அருள்சகோதரி நிர்மலா ஜோஷி அவர்களின் அடக்கச் சடங்கு இப்புதனன்று மாலை இடம்பெற்றது.

அன்னை தெரேசாவுக்குப்பின் 1997ம் ஆண்டு முதல் 2009ம் ஆண்டு வரை அச்சபையை தலைமையேற்று வழிநடத்திய அருள்சகோதரி நிர்மலா அவர்களின் மறைவு குறித்து தன் இரங்கல் செய்தியை வெளியிட்ட மும்பை பேராயர் கர்தினால் ஆஸ்வால்டு கிரேசியாஸ் அவர்கள், அருள்சகோதரி நிர்மலா அவர்களின் தினசரி செபங்கள் தனிப்பட்ட முறையில் தனக்கும், இந்திய மற்றும் ஆசிய திரு அவைக்கும் பெருமளவில் உதவியுள்ளன என்றார்.

சகோதரி நிர்மலா அவர்கள் தனக்களித்த பெரிய கொடையாக,  அவரின் தினசரி செபம் இருந்தது என்ற கர்தினால், தன் புனித வாழ்வின் மூலம் திருவைக்கு அருள்சகோதரி நிர்மலா உதவியுள்ளார் என்றார்.

1934ம் ஆண்டு இந்து குடும்பத்தில் பிறந்த அருள்சகோதரி நிர்மலா அவர்கள்,  அன்னை தெரேசாவின் பணிகளால் கவரப்பட்டு, கத்தோலிக்க மறையைத் தழுவினார்.

ஆதாரம் : வத்திக்கான் வானொலி

7.  இறைவனடி சேர்ந்த சிலிசியா முதுபெரும் தந்தை

ஜூன்,25,2015. ஆர்மேனிய கத்தோலிக்க வழிபாட்டு முறையின் சிலிசியா முதுபெரும் தந்தை, 19ம் நெர்செஸ் பெத்ரோஸ் (Nerses Bedros) அவர்கள், இவ்வியாழன் காலை இறைவனடி சேர்ந்தார்.

லெபனான் தலைநகர் பெய்ரூட்டில், வியாழன் காலை உள்ளூர் நேரம் 8.45 மணிக்கு, மாரடைப்பால் இவர் இறந்தார் என்று அங்கிருந்து வரும் செய்திகள் கூறுகின்றன.

எகிப்து நாட்டின் கெய்ரோவில் 1940ம் ஆண்டு பிறந்த ஆர்மேனிய கத்தோலிக்க முதுபெரும் தந்தை, 19ம் நெர்செஸ் பெத்ரோஸ் அவர்கள், 1999ம் ஆண்டு, சிலிசியாவின் ஆர்மேனிய கத்தோலிக்க வழிபாட்டு முறைத் தலைவராகத் தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்டு, அதே ஆண்டு, திருத்தந்தை புனித இரண்டாம் யோவான் பவுல் அவர்களிடமிருந்து பேராயருக்குரிய பாலியத்தைப் பெற்றுக்கொண்டவர்.

ஆதாரம் : / வத்திக்கான் வானொலி

8.  வாயுக்களின் வெளியேற்றத்தை, நெதர்லாந்து குறைக்கவேண்டும்

ஜூன்,25,2015. புவியை வெப்பமாக்கும் வாயுக்களின் வெளியேற்றத்தை, நெதர்லாந்து நாடு, அடுத்த ஐந்து ஆண்டுகளில், குறைந்தது 5 விழுக்காடு குறைக்கவேண்டும் என்று அந்நாட்டு நீதிமன்றம் ஒன்று உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளது.

புவி வெப்பமயமாதலைத் தடுக்கும் நோக்கத்தில் விழிப்புணர்வு நடவடிக்கைகளை மேற்கொண்டுவரும் அமைப்பு ஒன்று தொடர்ந்த வழக்கில் இந்த வரலாற்று சிறப்பு மிக்க தீர்ப்பு வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

புவியை வெப்பமாக்கும் வாயுக்களின் வெளியேற்றம் குறைக்கப்படாவிடில், இந்த நூற்றாண்டின் இறுதி 50 ஆண்டுகளில், மிகக் கடுமையான காலநிலை பாதிப்புக்கள் ஏற்படும், உணவு மற்றும் குடிநீருக்கு தட்டுப்பாடுகள் ஏற்படும் என்று இவ்வமைப்பினர் நீதிமன்றத்தில் தகுந்த ஆதாரங்களுடன் வாதாடியிருந்தனர்.

புவியின் வெப்பம் கூடினால், கடல்மட்டம் உயரும் வாய்ப்புக்கள் அதிகமென்றும், நெதர்லாந்து நாடு கடல்மட்ட உயர்வால் அதிக அளவு பாதிப்பை எதிர்கொள்ளும் என்றும் இவ்வமைப்பினர் முன்வைத்த வாதங்களில் கூறப்பட்டது.

ஆதாரம் : / வத்திக்கான் வானொலி