Granada, Spain, Nov 19, 2014 / 04:11 pm (CNA).- The Archdiocese of Granada, Spain, has defended its response to the case of three priests accused of abusing an underage boy over a decade ago, offering solidarity to the alleged victim.   “... Read more

Minsk, Belarus, Nov 19, 2014 / 04:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In Belarus, western Ukraine's neighbor to the north, the Church is doing its best to reach out to the people, even as it faces such challenges as irreligion, poverty, and alcoholism in the former Soviet republic. “For 70 years efforts had been made to completely eradicate any belief in God,” Magda Kaczmarek, a senior staff member of Aid to the Church in Need, said after her visit to Belarus earlier in November. “The Church was not merely persecuted during Soviet times, but literally destroyed. Churches were made into cinemas, warehouses and sports halls. Priests were sent to Gulags in Siberia or murdered.” “However, there are still Catholics today who rely on the Church for support … among them are many who are searching and people who are open to God, but who were not able to or not allowed to live out their faith for any number of reasons. The Church is committed to finding them, reminding them of their Catholic roots and offering them pastoral care once again.” Kaczmarek noted that “examples of the Church’s support for society as a whole are the care for homeless people and families, as well as counselling services for pregnant women. Along with Russia, Belarus is among the countries with the highest abortion rates. This is a pressing problem.” She added that “in carrying out this work, the Church takes care of everyone, irrespective of religious affiliation. Anyone who needs help finds a ready welcome.” Among Belarusians, around 40 percent are irreligious, 48 percent are Eastern Orthodox, and 12 percent are Catholic. “One of the greatest challenges is providing pastoral care in matters concerning children, adolescents, marriage, and family,” said Kaczmarek, who noted that 70 percent of marriages in the nation end in divorce. “However, vocations can only grow within intact families that practice their faith.” The high divorce rate has led to a “great shortage of native priest and religious,” but “priests from other countries may only stay in the country for a few months,” she said. “The visas of foreign clergy are often not renewed … which leads to shortfalls in pastoral care.” “Another great need is building of small churches and chapels for new communities. One question that remains unanswered concerns the restoration of the Church property that was confiscated by the state after World War II. In many cases, the granting of parcels of land free-of-charge is a positive sign. However, it can take years to actually receive building permits. The bureaucracy is making it very hard on the clergy.” Kaczmarek noted that while the state does “welcome the Church’s social commitment, such as its soup kitchens, nurseries or pro-life activities … there is no state funding made available for any of these initiatives” and the Church is thus “largely dependent on outside help.” Recalling how she grew up in Poland during the Cold War, she noted, “I …. felt like I was back in this period of Poland’s history while I was in Belarus.” “You still feel the presence of communism. In the cities as well as in rural areas, monuments that honour Lenin or the soldiers of the Red Army, tanks and airplanes recall former times.” Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus' president, has been in office since 1994. According to Transparency International, Belarus has high levels of perceived public sector corruption, in Europe ahead of only Russia and Ukraine. “It is common knowledge that the Belarusians live under a dictatorship,” commented Kaczmarek. “The country seems very isolated … You feel that the people have little trust in each other. Uncertainty and mistrust are everywhere.” She also commented that “Belarus has the highest consumption of alcohol in all of Europe.” Despite all these challenges, Catholics and Orthodox are working together to serve Belarusians. “We have not forgotten that the Catholic Church helped us when times were difficult,” Metropolitan Paul Ponomaryov, the Russian Orthodox patriarchal exarch for Belarus, told Aid to the Church in Need Nov. 14. Both Churches suffered from anti-religious propaganda during the Soviet period, he said, adding that “Orthodox and Catholics have to defend the values of the Gospel. We have much in common.” “Today, a mind-set has taken hold that places the 'I' into the foreground and always stresses, ‘take what you can get.' Children are being raised with this fundamentally egotistical take on life,” he lamented. “Christians are called to live in the exact opposite way – to develop the willingness to make sacrifices for others and to give to those who have nothing or very little.”   Read more

Rome, Italy, Nov 19, 2014 / 02:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As the battle over Syria's largest city has raged for more than two years, the Community of Sant'Egidio on Tuesday launched a campaign for international solidarity to promote a truce in the historic metropolis. Andrea Riccardi, founder of the lay association known for its dedication to peace, said Nov. 18 that “Aleppo, a world of cohabitation, where Christians and Muslims lived together, is going to be destroyed. It is not a battle. It is an agony.” The appeal for Aleppo included the launch of the hashtag #savealeppo to draw attention to the city's plight. The Sant'Egidio community's president, Marco Impagliazzo, was recently received at the United Nations by its secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, “who gave his support to the Sant'Egidio initiative,” said Riccardi. The Sant'Egidio community has played a leading role in successfully negotiating for peace in previous conflicts, including in Senegal in 2012; Algeria in 1995; and Mozambique in 1992. The battle of Aleppo began in July 2012  as part of the Syrian civil war. It has involved the Syrian regime and its ally Hezbollah; moderate rebels such as the Free Syrian Army; Islamist rebels such as al-Nusra Front and Islamic State; and Kurdish forces. “Each of these forces may surround the other; the battle is completely balanced, and people are completely stuck in the middle, while public opinion has almost forgotten what it is going on in Syria,” maintained Riccardi. Riccardi blamed the lack of interest on the Syrian situation on the fluctuation of public opinion, which “easily forgets,” as has happened with the plight of Christians in Iraq. According to Riccardi, “there are now about 1 million people in Aleppo, but it is difficult to assess with precision how many Christians have remained … perhaps there are 60 thousand left.” The city is divided into zones held by the regime, Kurds, and rebels, with an estimated 300,000 persons in rebel-held areas. In 2005, before the war began, the city's population was estimated at 2.3 million. The Sant’Egidio community does not want to give diplomatic suggestions, but it hopes “that the situation of Aleppo would be frozen, and eventually that there is an international intervention coordinated by the United Nations in order to free Aleppo and make of Aleppo an ‘open city’ on the model of Rome during the Second World War.” In August 1943, Italian forces declared Rome an “open city,” saying they had abandoned the city's defense in the face of Allied advances. The city was eventually liberated in June, 1944, without bloodshed. In Aleppo, “many now predict it is just a matter of time” before the city falls to the Syrian regime if no ceasefire is signed, the BBC's Lyse Doucet wrote Nov. 14. “Syrian troops are encircling (the rebel-held zone) in a pincer movement to cut supply lines, an attempt to force surrender and defeat,” she continued. Sant'Egidio's proposal for a 'freeze zone' in Aleppo has been accepted by Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations envoy to Syria. The freeze zone plan would institute local truces in the Syrian civil war, allowing the delivery of humanitarian aid in a war that has killed at least 200,000 and forced more than 11 million from their homes. But it is feared that the Syrian regime will not continue advancing in Aleppo unless the freeze zone is situated to its clear advantage. Aleppo was chosen for the ceasefire “as a symbol, because Aleppo has been the biggest city of cohabition among religions,” said Riccardi. “I remember when the bells of Christian churches rang along with the Muslim muezzin. There, the Arabic world, Kurdish world, Armenian world, and Christian world converged, and lived together.” Aleppo has been continuously inhabited since well before Christ, and its Old City was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986, and in 2006 was named the “Islamic Capital of Culture.” While some 80 percent of its population before the civil war were Muslims, they coexisted well with the city's small Jewish community, and the sizable Christian minority. Large numbers of both Orthodox and Catholics were present, with the city holding the cathedrals of six Catholic bishops of different Churches. The Community of Sant'Egidio hopes that its efforts at an Aleppo ceasefire will mean rescuing all the religious minorities in the area. The movement is also organizing a March 5-6, 2015 conference on Christians in the Middle East to be held in Cyprus, which will involve both Christians and Muslims of the region, as well as representatives of international organizations. Read more