Aboard the papal plane, Aug 13, 2014 / 12:23 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Aboard the papal flight to South Korea today, Pope Francis led an impromptu moment of silence to pray for a photojournalist who was killed in Gaza, and thanked journalists for their work. Simone Camilli, a 35-year-old Italian working for the Associated Press, and his freelance Palestinian translator, Ali Shehda Abu Afash, died Aug. 13 along with four Gazan bomb disposal offficers who were trying to dismantle an Israeli missile. The missile exploded in Beit Lahiya as they tried to neutralize it. Four additional persons, including AP photographer Hatem Moussa, were gravely injured by the explosion. Fighting between Israel and Hamas since July 8 has killed more than 1,900 Palestinians, and 67 Israelis. “These are the consequences of war,” Pope Francis told reporters after learning of the death of Camilli, Afash, and the others. “Thanks for your service,” the Pope told the journalists on his flight. “Thanks for all that you do.” Pope Francis asked for a moment of silence to pray for those who died in Beit Lahiya; the moment lasted about 30 seconds. The Pope then turned to the topic of his visit to South Korea. “It will not be a tourist trip. It will be extremely physical,” he told the journalists, again expressing his gratitude. “Thank you so much, as your words always help to unite us to the world,” Pope Francis said. “Also I encourage you, give this message of peace always.” The Pope also announced that he would give an interview to journalists on his return flight from South Korea to Italy. In a light-hearted spirit, he compared the promised interview to the story of the biblical prophet Daniel. “Daniel will go into the lion's den,” he said. “They don't bite though,” he said in reference to the journalists. Pope Francis then greeted individually each the journalists, photographers, and cameramen on his flight. There are 10 Korean media personnel on the papal flight, out of 72 communicators, according to Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi. The communicators represent 11 nations. Among the journalists was Jung Ae-ko, a London-based reporter for JoongAng Ilbo, a Seoul daily which also publishes in English. Jung told CNA that the papal visit is “hugely important" for South Korea. “We have been through quite a hard time recently,” she said, referring to the capsizing of the 480-foot ferry Sewol in May. The dead number over 300 people, many of them high school students on a field trip. “The papal visit is the only good news for South Korea to enjoy at the moment,” she said. Pope Francis will be in South Korea Aug. 14-18. Scheduled events include the beatification of Paul Yun Ji-chung and his 123 companions, martyred for the faith in Korea in the 19th century. Read more

Vatican City, Aug 13, 2014 / 10:31 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis wrote United Nations general secretary Ban Ki-moon, asking him to act to end the humanitarian tragedy now underway in Iraq. The letter, received by Ban Aug. 13, is the latest of the Pope’s interventions to stop the plight of Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq. In it, Pope Francis writes that he has been following “the dramatic events of these past few days in Northern Iraq” with “heavy and anguished heart.” “Christians and other religious minorities have been forced to flee from their homes and witness the destruction of their places of worship and religious patrimony," the Pope wrote.  The militant Sunni Islamist organization Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was among the rebels fighting in the Syrian civil war; this spring it spread its operations to Iraq, taking control of Mosul and swaths of territory in the country's north and west, as well as in northern Syria. It has now declared a caliphate, and calls itself the Islamic State (ISIS). In Syria on Aug. 13, ISIS seized a string of towns located northeast of Aleppo and near the Turkish border, including Akhtarin. On Aug. 11 it had seized the Iraqi town of Jalawla, located 90 miles northeast of Baghdad in Diyala province. All non-Sunni persons have been persecuted by the Islamic State – tens of thousands of Christians, Yazidis, and Shia Muslims have fled the territory. In his letter to the U.N., Pope Francis said he appointed Cardinal Filoni as his special envoy to Iraq in order to “manifest my spiritual closeness and to express my concern, and that of the entire Catholic Church, for the intolerable suffering of those who only wish to live in peace, harmony and freedom in the land of their forefathers.” Pope Francis placed before the UN general secretary “the tears, the suffering and heartfelt cries of despair of Christians and other religious minorities of the beloved land of Iraq,” and renewed his “urgent appeal to the international community to take action to end the humanitarian tragedy now underway”. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, there are more than 1.2 million internally displaced persons in Iraq, as well as at least 10,000 Iraqi refugees in Syria. “The violent attacks that are sweeping across Northern Iraq cannot but awaken the consciences of all men and women of goodwill to concrete acts of solidarity,” Pope Francis stressed. Among these acts of solidarity, he suggested the protection of those affected or threatened by violence, the assurance of necessary, urgent assistance for the many displaced people, as well as their safe return to their cities and their homes. The Pope underscored that “the tragic experiences of the twentieth century, and the most basic understanding of human dignity, compels the international community, particularly through the norms and mechanism of international law, to do all that it can to stop and to prevent further systematic violence against ethnic and religious minorities.” Pope Francis then united his appeal to those of the Oriental Patriarchs and other religious leaders, stating his confidence that the appeal “will meet with a positive reply.”   Read more

Vatican City, Aug 13, 2014 / 08:44 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Holy See's permanent observer to the United Nations on Saturday urged the international community to provide humanitarian assistance and military and political protection for Christians persecuted by the Islamic State. “We hope the voice that is surging from different Christian and religious communities, from moderate Muslims, from people of good will around the world, may find the response of concrete humanitarian assistance that is provided for the Christians in northern Iraq as well as some political and even effective military protection,” Archbishop Silvano Tomasi told Vatican Radio Aug. 9. The militant Sunni Islamist organization Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was among the rebels fighting in the Syrian civil war; this spring it spread its operations to Iraq, taking control of Mosul and swaths of territory in the country's north and west, as well as in northern Syria. It has now declared a caliphate, and calls itself the Islamic State. On Aug. 11 it seized the town of Jalawla, located 90 miles northeast of Baghdad in Diyala province. All non-Sunni persons in the Islamic State have been persecuted – tens of thousands of Christians, Yazidis, and Shia Muslims have fled the territory. “We are faced with a certain indifference at the practical level with the international community. It is difficult to convince – because of false modesty, I would say – the Western powers to take a strong stance in defense of the Christians,” Archbishop Tomasi lamented. He was encouraged that there is now “action beginning on the part of the international community,” citing special sessions of the U.N., U.S. military intervention, and that “some governments are beginning to express their suggestions for practical action in defense of these populations.” The U.S. began airstrikes to protect Erbil, as well as Yazidis who fled Sinjar, on Aug. 8, which have continued. The Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon, Louis Raphael I Sako, lamented the small scale of military intervention in an Aug. 10 statement. “The position of the American president Obama only to give military assistance to protect Erbil is disappointing,” said Patriarch Sako. “The Americans are not up to a rapid solution to give hope specifically as they are not going to attack the ISIS in Mosul and in the Nineveh Plain.” “The confirmation that this terrible situation will continue until the Iraqi Security Forces will fight along with Peshmerga against the ISIS militants is very depressing. The President of the Kurdistan Region said that the Kurdish troops are fighting with a terrorist State and not minor groups! While the country is under fire, the politicians in Baghdad are fighting for power.” “At the end, perhaps, Mosul will not be liberated neither the villages in the Nineveh Plain. There is no strategy to dry up the sources of manpower and the resources of these Islamic terrorists. They control the oil town of Zumar and the oil fields of Ain Zalah and Batma along with the oil fields of Al-Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor in Syria. The Islamic extremist fighters are joining them from different countries around the world.” France announced Aug. 13 that it would begin supplying arms to the peshmerga, Kurdish militants fighting the Islamic State, the same day. Patriarch Sako also emphasized the scale of needed humanitarian aid for the displaced. “Death and sickness are grabbing the children and elderly people among the thousands of refugee families spread over the Kurdistan Region who lost everything in the recent tragic developments while the ISIS Militants are still advancing and the humanitarian aid is insufficient.” He said there are 70,000 displaced Christians in Erbil: “the families who found shelter inside the churches or schools are in a rather good condition while those who are still sleeping in the streets and public parks are in a deplorable situation.” He added that there are more than 60,000 displaced Christians in Dohuk, whose “situation is worse than those in Erbil.” “While the humanitarian needs are escalating: housing, food, water, medicine and funds, the lack of international coordination is slowing and limiting the realization of an effective assistance to these thousands awaiting immediate support. The Churches are offering everything within their capacity.” According to the UNHCR, there are more than 1.2 million internally displaced persons in Iraq, as well as at least 10,000 Iraqi refugees in Syria. The U.S., U.K., and France have also provided food, water, and other aid to those displaced by the caliphate. On Aug. 12, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue issued a statement calling on religious leaders, especially Muslims, to condemn the Islamic State and its acts of terrorism. “This Pontifical Council, together with all those engaged in interreligious dialogue, followers of all religions, and all men and women of good will, can only unambiguously denounce and condemn these practices which bring shame on humanity,” it said. Citing the terrorizing acts of the Islamic State, the pontifical council said that “no cause, and certainly no religion, can justify such barbarity. This constitutes an extremely serious offense to humanity and to God who is the Creator … We cannot forget, however, that Christians and Muslims have lived together – it is true with ups and downs – over the centuries, building a culture of peaceful coexistence and civilization of which they are proud. Moreover, it is on this basis that, in recent years, dialogue between Christians and Muslims has continued and intensified.” “The dramatic plight of Christians, Yezidis and other religious communities and ethnic minorities in Iraq requires a clear and courageous stance on the part of religious leaders, especially Muslims, as well as those engaged in interreligious dialogue and all people of good will. All must be unanimous in condemning unequivocally these crimes and in denouncing the use of religion to justify them. If not, what credibility will religions, their followers and their leaders have? What credibility can the interreligious dialogue that we have patiently pursued over recent years have?” The pontifical council called on religious leaders to “exercise their influence with the authorities to end these crimes, to punish those who commit them and to reestablish the rule of law throughout the land, ensuring the return home of those who have been displaced. While recalling the need for an ethical management of human societies, these same religious leaders must not fail to stress that the support, funding and arming of terrorism is morally reprehensible.” The dicastery concluded saying that it “is grateful to all those who have already raised their voices to denounce terrorism, especially that which uses religion to justify it.” Read more