CNA Daily News - Asia - Pacific

Catholic children in Thailand participate in inter-religious dialogue

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 02:15:00 -0600

Bangkok, Thailand, Jun 20, 2013 / 02:15 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Local Catholic children in Bangkok participated in fellowship with other faith groups to foster inter-religious dialogue and peaceful relationships among different communities.

The group contained members of diverse faith backgrounds, including Buddhists, Muslims and Catholics, as well as their religious leaders.

The encounter program was organized under the leadership of Fr. Anucha Chaowpraeknoi, chaplain of the Catholic Office for Emergency Relief and Emergency Thailand, in collaboration with the Moral Promotion Center of the Royal Thai Government.

Fr. Chaowpraeknoi told CNA that “through this, we aim to explore the ethics of traditions in other religion and impress on the young minds a sense of common good, thus developing their moral values of fidelity and honesty.”

These activities cannot be a “substitute to Catechism,” he stressed, but rather, they “reinforce” the understanding of Catholic doctrine and how it is incorporated into practical living.

Inter-faith dialogue “empowers” the faithful “to live and to love their neighbor,” striving to create a “peaceful society,” he added.

He pointed to Pope Francis, who has urged Church leaders to engage in “fighting poverty, both material and spiritual, building peace and constructing bridges between communities.”

Sister Kannikar Eamtaisong, director of Sacred Heart Orphanage, told CNA that Catholics must “live out the teachings of Jesus Christ,” which include the commandment to love and live in union as brothers and sisters.

Our true faith life is complete only when our spiritual life is put into practice through “love and charity,” she said.

“This program unwinds prejudiced mind to know other faiths,” she explained, and this in turn “reaffirms” the understanding and belief of one’s own faith.

Starting at Santa Cruz Church, the children walked to a local temple and mosque, dialoguing with the religious leaders and learning about their beliefs and prayer.

At the Buddhist temple Wat Thewarat Chakunshonvoraviahan, the Superior monk discussed “the importance of honesty” in life.

He encouraged the children to practice “honesty of personality, of time, of the word, of responsibility, of piety and finally honesty of self.”

One student participant told CNA after the event that while she often finds such talks boring, the inter-religious visit and discussions with leaders were interesting and the students now “feel committed.”

Construction begins on new home for elderly in Thailand

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:07:00 -0600

Korat, Thailand, Jun 18, 2013 / 04:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A new home for the elderly in Thailand will seek to restore respect for senior citizens and to fight the escalating problems of elderly abandonment and suicide in the country.

Bishop Joseph Chusak Sirisut of Nakhon Ratchasima told CNA that there is an absence of “social care centers for the elders in this whole region.”

Construction has begun on a new home for the elderly in Korat, its foundational stone laid under the patronage of Bishop Sirisut and Fr. Paul Cherdchai Lertjitlekha, provincial superior and president of the St. Camillus Foundation Thailand.

Fr. Lertjitlekha explained that the effort is not seeking to encourage children to “abandon their elders” to nursing homes.

Rather, he said, such homes are “a last resort” that can help to ensure that the elderly’s right to health care and pastoral care is fulfilled.

“The love and affection of the family can’t be substituted,” he stressed.

The new home is a pastoral response to the demographic situation in Thailand. A recent study from the Institute for Population and Social Research at Mahidol University showed Thailand as having the highest number of senior citizens in the Association of South East Asian Nations, creating concerns for its future economy.

At the same time, the report found that people are having fewer children, and this trend will aggravate the problem in coming years.

The Diocese of Nakhon Ratchasima has donated 7.2 acres for the new home for the elderly, which is expected to cost about 80 million Baht, close to 2.6 million U.S. dollars.

The diocese and the St. Camillus Foundation have each initially pooled 20 million Baht and hope to fundraise in order to complete the project in three years.

Fr. Giovanni Contarin, project coordinator for the St. Camillus Foundation Thailand, said that the home is being built with the aid of “support, prayers, collaboration and…Divine Providence.”

It will meet a great need in the country, he added, noting that “Thailand is very poor in giving palliative care to the patients.”

The northeastern Isan zone of Thailand, where the new home for the elderly is being constructed, is among the poorest regions of the country, Fr. Contarin explained. Composed of 20 provinces, the area has a large population of displaced and impoverished people. Young people seeking jobs are often lured into drugs, human trafficking and other crime.

Bishop Sirisut said that these “alarming facts” must be met with pastoral care. He described the project as “love in action and love in service,” adhering to the Gospel as encouraged by Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical, Caritas in Veritate.

Respect for the life and dignity of senior citizens is “in peril” today, added Fr. Contarin, pointing to a report by Thailand’s Department of Mental Health which indicates that the suicide rates of those aged 70-74 have increased more than those of young people in their 20s.

The new home for the elderly is a “pastoral project” that aims to “provide assistance to people of all creeds, the poor and the rich, who are abandoned and left unattended, to suffer a lonely death,” he stressed.

While acknowledging that “the task is immense,” Fr. Contarin explained that the St. Camillus Foundation has worked for 400 years in a spirit of “faith, charity, service and transparency as a foundation.”

“This project will help us…to build inter-faith sharing and a foundation for dialogue and conversion of heart,” he said.

Report finds Catholic population growing in South Korea

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:01:00 -0600

Seoul, South Korea, Jun 12, 2013 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Recent statistics indicate that the Catholic population in South Korea has increased over the past year.

Last month, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea released a publication entitled Statistics of the Catholic Church in Korea 2011.

The report, prepared by the Catholic Pastoral Institute of Korea, states that at the end of 2012, there were 5,361,369 Catholics in the country, an increase of 1.6 percent – or 84,959 individuals – over the last year.

This accounts for just over 10 percent of the total population. According to the report, these numbers have “slightly and consistently increased at a yearly average of
2 – 3 percent during the past 11 years.”

Just over half of South Korea’s Catholics live in the metropolitan areas of Seoul, Suwon, Incheon and Uijeongbu.

The number of parishes in 2012 was 1,664, an increase of 17 from the previous year, while the number of mission stations rose by three to a total of 796.

Despite these increases, however, the report found that the number of newly baptized persons in 2012 was 132,076, a decrease of 1.8 percent from the previous year. Of those baptized, 25,141 were infants, a decrease of 2.2 percent from the previous year.

The statistics document also found a decline in new ordinations to the priesthood in 2012. While 131 priests were ordained, this represented a 7.6 percent decrease from the previous year. The total number of clergy in South Korea was 4,788, including 34 bishops.

Furthermore, the report found that the number of seminarians decreased by three percent to reach 1,540.

Reception of the sacraments also declined in 2012. The number of Catholics receiving the Sacrament of Confession was just under 4.9 million, down by 4.6 percent from the year before.

The average rate for Sunday Mass attendance was 22.7 percent of the total Catholics in Korea, a decrease of 0.5 percent from the previous year.

Faithful in Thailand moved by Pope's words on Corpus Christi

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 16:12:00 -0600

Si Racha, Thailand, Jun 4, 2013 / 04:12 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a spirit of jubilation and fervor, Catholics in Thailand celebrated the feast of Corpus Christi with Eucharistic adoration and processions.

The solemn liturgical celebrations at the Sacred Heart Church in Sriracha drew large crowds, despite heavy rain showers. Mass was followed with traditional floral processions and adoration to celebrate the real presence of Christ's body and blood in the Eucharist.

In his homily, Bishop Silvio Siripong Chartsri of Chantaburi stressed that the Eucharist empowers and transforms lives in order for the faithful to be true disciples, sharing in the communion of Christ.

Bishop Silvio drew his homily from the words of Pope Francis, who spoke before leading a Corpus Christi procession.

The Eucharist motivates and invigorates Christian life, he said, explaining that the sacrament “nourishes” the faithful to “be in close communion with the Lord and His people.”

The bishop highlighted the words of Pope Francis: “The Eucharist is the sacrament of the communion that takes us out of our individualism so that together we live our discipleship, our faith in him.”

He further encouraged the faithful to remember the importance of “Eucharistic Communion with God and the relationship with the neighbor.” Charity is an indispensable virtue in the life of a Christian, he said.

Bishop emeritus Lawrence Thienchai Samanchit joined in the sacred celebration, along with local priests and various religious communities, schools and parishioners.

Parishioners welcomed the Corpus Christi homily of the Pope Francis with enthusiasm, saying they were “happy” to hear the Holy Father’s teachings translated into their own language.

Kanjanee Jokthong, a local catechist said, said that the feast of Corpus Christi “is important to reinforce our spiritual life and interpersonal relationship with our fellow beings.”

“In totality, this sacrament is the center of our life,” she explained.

Bangladesh tragedy sparks call for retail accountability

Wed, 15 May 2013 04:03:00 -0600

Dhaka, Bangladesh, May 15, 2013 / 04:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After the collapse of a garment factory in Bangladesh which killed at least 1,127 workers, demands for better oversight from Western retailers as well as local manufacturers have been widespread.

“The question is whether U.S. importers have an obligation to do something about working conditions in other countries,” Edward J. O'Boyle, senior research associate with Mayo Research Institute, told CNA May 14.

He pointed to John Paul II's 1981 encyclical “Laborem Exercens,” where the late pontiff said that labor's effect on the worker is more important than both its effect on the product and on profits.

“We cannot purchase imported goods at the price of the lives of people in other countries simply because they live in other countries where working conditions are deplorable; we have an obligation to intervene,” O'Boyle, a retired economics professor, added.

On April 24, the eight-story Rana Plaza collapsed in Savar, near the country's capital of Dhaka. Bangladesh is the world's second-largest garment exporter. Since the tragedy, some 300 similar factories have closed following worker unrest.

O'Boyle noted that Western retailers already intervene with their suppliers in developing countries when they are provided with faulty garments.

“John Paul is asserting that substandard working conditions are a more compelling reason for intervention with the manufacturer than defects in the manufacturer’s product,” he noted.

“As necessary as they are to the survival of any business enterprise, the profits of the firm that derive directly from selling its products are subordinate to the well-being of the workers who make those products.”

O'Boyle suggested two avenues by which Bangladeshi working conditions might be improved, either through government intervention or by working agreements among manufacturers.

Since importers must be licensed, he said governments in Western countries might make the licenses “contingent on demonstrating that working conditions...are acceptable.”

His suggestion for manufacturers' working agreements is currently being undertaken. Several European clothing retailers, including H&M, the single largest clothing buyer in Bangladesh, have signed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which obliges them to conduct safety inspections and pay for repairs at factories in the nation.

The Associated Press reports that the accord is a revision of an agreement which was rejected by retailers two years ago “because of cost and legal concerns.” The April 24 collapse was the latest in a series of incidents at Bangladeshi factories. A fire in November killed 112, and May 9, another fire killed eight.

American retailers have yet to sign the agreement. Gap wants the accord's rules on dispute resolution changed, and Walmart, Bangladesh's second-largest clothing buyer, will not sign.

Christopher Westley, an economics professor at Jacksonville State University and an adjunct scholar at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, addressed the factory collapse by iterating that economic and social systems “have to be based upon the primacy of the human person,” as Catholic social teaching says.

“In Bangladesh, it doesn't sound like whoever was controlling (the factory) had taken any of those lessons to heart,” he said to CNA May 13.

He added, however, that he was unsure if this is a “systemic issue” in the country, bringing in issues of corruption, because such events “can still happen in a free society, because of the human condition, because people are imperfect.”

Westley suggested that Bangladeshi workers are “vulnerable,” because they are easily available, their labor is cheap, and they are easily exchanged.

“Maybe over time, that causes the owners of capital to lose sight that these are living breathing human beings made in the image of God,” he considered.

He added that laborers there might be “kind of treated like capital...not seen as being people, they're just seen as being inputs in a production process,” in a mentality that says that “if the safety regulations are too expensive, we can replace them if something bad happens.”

What Westley finds concerning is that labor conditions in Bangladesh do not seem to have improved over time. Bangladeshis are choosing to work in industries known to be unsafe despite the risks because “it beats whatever their next available option will be.”

“Working conditions in any developing economy usually are dangerous,” but that the situation normally improves, as societies become wealthier and can afford investments in safe workplaces.

“What is it about Bangladeshi society that makes it persistently be poor,” Westley asked. He suggested such social institutions as a corrupt government and the hindrance of capital investment as possible answers.

Westley contrasted the nation with South Korea, which was in a similar state after the Korean War. Yet South Korea has grown from being among the poorest countries, to a developed nation among the top 20 economies.

While Bangladesh has made slight strides in fighting corruption, it remains a worrisome situation in the country. In 2005, it shared the distinction of being the most corrupt country in the world with Chad, according to Transparency International.

By 2012, Bangladesh had moved up to rank 144 in public sector corruption, among 176 countries considered by the organization, in the company of the Central African Republic, Syria, and Ukraine. South Korea, meanwhile, was ranked 45, behind Poland but ahead of Hungary.

On the recent factory collapse, Westley reflected that producers, consumers and governments all have a place in ensuring that such tragedies are not repeated.

“It does seem like human life is treated much less valuably in that situation, and it's something we should be concerned about.”

Thomas Storck, an author and a member of the editorial board of The Distributist Review, noted that “market forces, the mere play of supply and demand is not going to bring about economic justice.”

“The popes have been quite clear that this is not an acceptable opinion for Catholics,” he told CNA May 13.

Storck noted Pius XI's 1931 encyclical “Quadragesimo Anno,” in which the pontiff wrote that “the right ordering of economic life cannot be left to a free competition of forces.”

To tame free market forces, Catholic social teaching suggests either government regulation or, more favorably, Storck said, “the idea of intermediate groups which would do economic regulation.”

He said these intermediate groups are among the solutions of distributism, an economic system developed in large part by the English writer G. K. Chesterton in concert with then-emerging Catholic social teaching. It seeks widespread property ownership rather than the ownership of capital primarily by a small number of very wealthy individuals or by the state.

Storck suggested that guilds or occupational groups, including labor unions, could contribute to worker safety in Bangladeshi clothing factories.

“When you have very large companies that have a tremendous amount of economic power” – such as the European and American companies which purchase from Bangladeshi suppliers – “then they can in various ways drive down wages, and persuade governments that are weak to ignore their own health and safety laws.”

The concentration of economic power among a few very wealthy companies enables those companies to “exploit the workers” in such developing countries as Bangladesh, said Storck.

Distributism “champions the idea of worker-ownership because then there's no pressure” to cut the cost of labor in production. “That's what drove these companies to produce in Bangladesh in the first place,” Storck said. “They wanted to cut their labor cost.”

When enterprises are owned by the laborers, the conflict between wages and profits is eliminated, Storck explained.

He concluded by saying that the social encyclicals, and the whole of Catholic social teaching, should not be approached “through the lens of the American political divide.”

If a given position is supported by Church teaching, he said, “I've got to adhere to it...regardless of whether its congruent with liberalism or conservatism.”

Following one of the worst industrial disasters ever, Bangladesh's government is making efforts to address workers' safety concerns. The country has moved to make unionization easier, and raising the minimum wage for factory laborers, which is currently $38 a month.

Bishop laments 'gay marriage' approval in New Zealand

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:15:00 -0600

Wellington, New Zealand, Apr 18, 2013 / 04:15 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop John Dew of Wellington, president of the Bishops’ Conference of New Zealand, has expressed profound sadness over the authorization of ‘gay marriage’ by the country’s Parliament on April 17.

“We find it bizarre that what has been discarded is an understanding of marriage that has its origin in human nature and is common to every culture,” said Archbishop John Dew, according to CathNews.

He also voiced concern that “almost all references to husband and wife will be removed from legislation referencing marriage.”

“We know many New Zealanders stand with us in this,” he said.

By a vote of 77-44, New Zealand became the first country in the Pacific region and the thirteenth country in the world to grant legal recognition to same-sex “marriage.”

The law was sponsored by Labor representative Louisa Wall, who said it was necessary to secure “equal rights.”

Representative Maurice Williamson, who supported the measure, dismissed Catholic criticism as “coming from someone who’s taken an oath of celibacy for his whole life.”

However, Archbishop Dew stressed that marriage “is founded on sexual difference” and “reflects this unique reality.”

“Marriage is the essential human institution that predates religion and state,” he said. “It is a committed union between a man and a woman which has a natural orientation towards the procreation of new human life.”

“We’ve been assured that our religious freedom to teach and practice marriage according to our religious beliefs is protected, and we will continue to ensure that this freedom is upheld,” he added.

Deceased natural family planning pioneer 'inspired us'

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 17:08:00 -0700

Melbourne, Australia, Feb 20, 2013 / 05:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Dr. Evelyn Billings, who helped develop a major method of natural fertility regulation, is being remembered after her recent death as a wonderful inspiration, said a doctor at the Natural Family Planning Center.

“That's how we feel about her, she was wonderful, she inspired us, but she didn't restrict us,” Dr. Hanna Klaus told CNA from her D.C. office on Feb. 19.

“She and John, her husband, wanted us to do everything that was within our creativity to promote the method, but it was always for the good of families.”

Billings died Feb. 16 at the age of 95 after a short illness. She was a pediatrician, and together with her husband Dr. John Billings, developed the Billings Ovulation Method of spacing births. Her work studying breastfeeding mothers and peri-menopausal women made a major contribution to the development of the method.

The Billings Method helps women identify their fertile state based on their menstrual cycle. Based on this knowledge of the fertile period, a couple can the try to either achieve or avoid a pregnancy without the use of artificial contraceptives that violate Catholic teaching.

The couple developed the method in 1953 after they had been asked to devise such a technique by the Catholic Marriage Guidance Bureau.

Evelyn Billings authored “The Billings Method” in 1980. It has been published in 22 languages and exposed natural family planning to millions of couples in some 120 countries.

She also travelled throughout the world promoting natural family planning, and a substantial drop in the abortion rate in China was attributed to her work and her husband's, after they trained thousands there how to teach their method of regulating fertility. The Billings Method is the only natural fertility method allowed by the government there.

Billings was made a Dame Commander of Saint Gregory the Great by John Paul II in 2003. She was an active member of the Pontifical Academy for Life and a member of the Order of Australia.

“She and John had this gift of relating to everyone and getting them excited about possessing the gift of fertility and sexuality and managing it in a very human way. They themselves were very happily married,” Klaus said.

“They were just a wonderful team of physicians.”

Klaus recounted how the Billings decided to adopt a child, Kathryn, after Evelyn saw her at a nursery.

“They were just wonderful, sweet, holy people,” Klaus said, explaining that Billings was a warm, kind mother.

Billings is survived by eight of her nine children, as well as 39 grandchildren and 31 great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband John in 2007.

Orthodox bishop lauds Pope for building good relations

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:38:00 -0700

Moscow, Russia, Feb 11, 2013 / 05:38 pm (CNA).- A leading bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church said that Pope Benedict's papacy has been the occasion of a “positive dynamic” in relations between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox.

“He is a prominent theologian, who is well versed in the tradition of the Orthodox Church while having the sensitivity that makes it possible for him to build relations with Orthodox Church on (a) due level,” Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk said Feb. 11.

“Relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church have acquired positive dynamic after his ascension to the See of Rome.”

On Monday, Pope Benedict announced his decision to resign from his papal duties, effective Feb. 28.

The Holy Father cited concerns of advancing age and declining strength, saying that for these reasons, he is unable to “adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.”

Metropolitan Hilarion is chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's department for external church relations. He noted that the office of the Roman Pontiff “presupposes active work” and “is not a ceremonial office.”

“The Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to leave his office in the present situation may be seen as an act of personal courage and humbleness.”

He expressed gratitude for the Pope's “understanding of the problems which impede the full normalization of Orthodox-Catholic relations, especially in such regions as western Ukraine.”

Metropolitan Hilarion said his meetings with Pope Benedict are memorable, and noted the pontiff's thoughtfulness, sensitivity, and “his desire to solve together the problems arising in our relations.”

He praised the Pope's staunch opposition to the “dictatorship of relativism” and said that his “traditionalism and conservatism...are of credit for millions of Christians, both Catholic and non-Catholic, who seek to preserve traditional Christian spiritual and moral values.”

“It remains only to hope that his successor will continue walking along the same path and that Orthodox-Catholic relations will continue developing progressively for the common good of the whole Christendom.”

Philippines Catholics pledge to defeat backers of RH bill

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 00:04:00 -0700

Manila, Philippines, Jan 3, 2013 / 12:04 am (CNA).- Philippines Catholics have strongly criticized President Benigno Aquino III for signing a controversial “reproductive health” bill, vowing to oust supporters of the legislation in the country's 2013 elections.

“We will exhaust all legal remedies to fight this unjust, unethical and anti-poor and anti-life law,” said Dr. Ricardo Boncan, a spokesman for the Catholic Vote Philippines alliance.

He said the president's decision to sign the bill in secret Dec. 21 was “highly dishonorable and unprincipled,” citing the president's prior statement indicating he would not sign it before Christmas.

“This, to us, has been the hallmark of his presidency, deception and dictatorial,” Boncan said, according to the Philippines Inquirer.

The legislation requires government-sanctioned sex education for adults, middle school and high school students, as well as a population control program that includes fully subsidized contraceptives under government health insurance. It requires health care workers to refer for the drugs even if they have religious and moral objections.

Opponents of the bill warned that it would contribute to a breakdown of the family, strengthen a contraceptive mentality and advance sexual immorality. They also voiced concerns over the health risks posed by artificial birth control and the potential of some contraceptives to cause early abortions.

On Dec. 17 the Philippines House of Representatives approved the legislation by a vote of 133-79 with seven abstentions, while the Senate passed it by a 13-8 vote with two abstentions.

The debate over the bill included accusations of corruption, bribery and threats to obtain the necessary votes.

Juan Carlo Argo, a young pro-life advocate opposed to the bill who observed some of the legislative proceedings, told CBCP News the bill’s passage was “a bitter experience.”

“But the fight ain’t over. I can still help save lives in my own little way,” he said.

Amy Lee, another bill opponent, said she felt a mixture of sadness and “great determination” to fight the bill and evangelize the teachings of Jesus Christ.

“I am just unable to be a more obvious presence in the fight but I support a stronger Catholic presence in politics,” she told CBCP News.

Fr. Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ Episcopal Commission on Family and Life, also expressed resolve to continue opposition to the law, the Philippines Inquirer says.

The fact that President Aquino signed the bill in secret without media attention shows that the law “is not meritorious at all,” he said.

“The fight against the Culture of Death goes on. We can only lament that this was their gift to the Lord and to the Filipino people during Christmas season.”

Before the president signed the bill, Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas of Lingayen Dagupan characterized it as a “moral time bomb.” He called for efforts to strengthen families and marriages and to educate young people “so that they can stand strong against the threats to their moral fiber.”

Catholic bishops’ conference officials have said they would support Catholic lawyers’ efforts to challenge the law before the Philippines Supreme Court.

Catholic agencies work to help Philippines typhoon victims

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 02:00:00 -0700

Manila, Philippines, Dec 7, 2012 / 02:00 am (CNA).- Catholic relief agencies are working to help the victims of Typhoon Bopha, the strongest storm to hit the Philippines this year.

Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu said the Philippines bishops’ conference has mobilized social action centers in the 86 dioceses in the country, according to CBCP News.

“Our hearts bleed for the victims of the typhoon,” he said Dec. 6. “Our charity should reach out to those who are in need.”

Five teams from the U.S.-based Catholic Relief Services have visited village and towns to survey the damage and determine residents’ immediate needs, the agency said Dec. 5. The typhoon affected the southern island of Mindanao, causing considerable damage in the provinces of Compostela and Davao Oriental. Many lack electricity and communications are poor.

Catholic Relief Services intends to provide hygiene and sanitation kids, sleeping mats, blankets and tarps.

Before Typhoon Bopha hit the country, the government evacuated more than 160,000 people. The storm, known locally as Typhoon Pablo, struck regions that normally do not receive such strong weather.

Over 350 have died and nearly 400 are missing. The storm caused millions of dollars in damage and many are in need of basic necessities like food, water and clothing.

Pope Benedict XVI sent a Dec. 6 message to Archbishop Palma, who heads the Philippines bishops’ conference. The Pope conveyed his “heartfelt condolences to the families of all who mourn.” He said he was “deeply saddened” to learn of the loss of life the typhoon caused.

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who relayed the Pope’s message, said the pontiff is praying for the dead and for rescue workers.

Caritas Manila is preparing food parcels and other basic needs for those displaced by the typhoon. The Archdiocese of Manila has already sent initial cash assistance to the dioceses most severely affected by the storm.

The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, the official Catholic aid agency for England and Wales, has said it will also help storm victims.

About 20 typhoons strike the Philippines each year. In December 2011, Typhoon Washi hit northern Mindanao and killed 1,500 people.

Catholic Relief Services built more than 1,800 transitional shelters earlier this year. Eight of these were damaged by Typhoon Bopha.

Catholic campaign stalls Philippines 'reproductive health' bill

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 01:54:00 -0700

Manila, Philippines, Nov 27, 2012 / 01:54 am (CNA).- The Catholic clergy in the Philippines are strongly campaigning against political candidates who back a controversial “reproductive health” bill, helping stall its progress because politicians fear a backlash from Catholic voters.

Bishop Arturo Bastes of the Sorsogon diocese has instructed his priests about a campaign to inform the laity about candidates’ position on the bill, CBCP News reports.

“This is an important issue and this is a very good test whether the Philippines is a Catholic country or not,” the bishop told the Archdiocese of Manila’s Radio Veritas. “I hope even those who are not Catholics who believe in the sacredness of life will not vote (for) the politicians pushing for the RH bill.”

The legislation would mandate sex education in schools and subsidize contraceptives as part of a population control program.

Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa had particularly forceful words against the bill.

“We must use the Catholic vote and show them what the real Catholic is. There are fake Catholics here, they are the ones ruling in our country,” he said. “We can only stop ethnic cleansing, (the) contraceptive mentality, immorality, increasing number of broken families, and promiscuity if we vote for candidates who love life.”

Catholic leaders are also concerned that some of the contraceptives might cause abortions.

The Catholic campaign is having an effect. Although bill supporters like President Benigno Aquino III predicted it would move through the House of Representatives, required debates on the measure have been postponed because not enough lawmakers are attending to hold a quorum. Lawmakers are either missing sessions or leave after roll is called.

House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said most of the absent lawmakers are supporters of the bill.

Manuel Mamba, head of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office, told the Philippines Inquirer News that lawmakers do not want to provoke their parish priests by appearing in the deliberations on the bill or voting for it.

“If you’re a politician, you stay out of trouble. They (the clergy) are not even the enemy. Why provoke them? By voting for the measure, you’re provoking the Catholic hierarchy,” Mamba said. “In local politics, there is a Catholic vote, especially in areas where the clergy are very influential on their flock. If the clergy are popular, they have the pulpit. They can do it every Sunday.”

Backers of the bill have said surveys show over 70 percent of Catholic voters support the bill. Some backers, like bill co-sponsor Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, have said activism from bishops and clergy constitutes a “borderline violation” of the constitutional separation of church and state.

Bishop Arguelles responded that the separation of church and state limits the state from showing religious favoritism.

“This does not mean that the church cannot comment or speak on moral issues,” he said. “The Reproductive Health bill is a moral issue.”

Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City has suggested that some political leaders are changing their mind on the bill not only because of fear of political backlash.

“They now realize that it violates the Constitution, is coercive in nature, is morally incorrect, it assaults the Catholic religion, is medically unsafe, and is an unsound policy for a developing economy,” he said, charging that the bill will waste “billions of pesos” on condoms and contraceptives instead of investing in education and health care.

Some backers of the bill are playing political hardball, threatening some skeptical lawmakers that funding for the regions they represent will be cut if they do not vote for the bill.

Catholic couple's 'apostolic hobby' assists 1,400 Chinese orphans

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:02:00 -0600

Beijing, China, Oct 25, 2012 / 12:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- For the past decade and a half, an American couple living in China have cited total reliance on God as the source of their success in giving aid to hundreds of medically-fragile orphans.

“You really have to have an absolute dependence on God that the money's gonna show up when you need it,” Brent Johnson of China Little Flower told CNA Oct. 17.

Founded in 1998, China Little Flower is the parent organization of Brent and Serena Johnson's “apostolic hobby,” Little Flower Projects, a charity that seeks to reach out to the most vulnerable of China's population by providing medical care to abandoned orphans and children.

The two first met in China in 1990 while there studying Chinese. Brent later converted to Catholicism and the couple married on December 28, 1991.

When they returned to China as teachers shortly after the birth of their eldest son, Thomas Becket, in 1993, the Johnsons were confronted with the “unbelievable” conditions of Chinese orphanages.

“It was a confrontation with the truly ugly side of humanity,” Johnson said. “So we said, 'We gotta do something.'”

Although conditions in the government-run orphanages have improved since the 1990s, for a variety of very complex reasons and difficulties, he said about one-third of the country's roughly 700 facilities still maintain very high infant mortality rates.

The Johnsons asked the orphanage leaders if they could foster one of the children in their own home and were granted permission.

“We were just kind of ordinary, young Catholics living our faith, trying to do the right thing,” Johnson said. “When we started this, we didn't think of ourselves as on any special kind of a mission.”

After fostering the first child, the couple worked hard to convince others in China to do the same, especially Chinese families and also began to help pay for the costs of the care.

“For us, this wasn't any great leap in brilliance…this was just doing what (Serena's) parents had done,” Johnson said, referring to his in-laws in Connecticut who had three adopted children, three biological children and had served as foster parents for several years.

Since then, the Johnsons and their work with Little Flower Projects have given aid to 1,400 orphans who would have otherwise have perished.

In 2005, the organization also began to arrange group homes for children with physical disabilities, where they can live and be educated in a family-like setting and eventually live independent lives.

“We feel this incredible pressure to just save as many babies as we can,” he said.
Johnson, who works full-time as a business manager and now has 6 children of his own, said the charity generally only boasts about 2-3 months worth of funding in the bank at one time.

“I don't know if it's bad management on my part,” he said with a laugh, “or God's plan.”
Johnson added, “The truth of the matter is that every time we get ahead with money, we start a new project.”

Some people call such a move financially irresponsible, but Johnson generally ignores such criticism.

“I think, 'Well, I have this money now – I can save 100 babies this year that otherwise wouldn't be saved.'”

Regardless of one's opinion of China, Johnson said it is important that Americans not “forget the little people” who make up the “bottom rung” of the country's nearly 1.4 billion person population.

Prayer and educating oneself about China's orphans is the best way to get involved, he added.

Those who are interested can receive updates about the organization and the children they serve by “liking” their Facebook page, which frequently adds prayer requests and photos of the children in their care.

“As I said in the beginning, I think this is God's hand at work here and I'm not one of those kinds of Christians that says that lightly,” Johnson said.

To find out more about China Little Flower, visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/Little-Flower-Projects/230680524654.

Ivory smuggling charge against priest reveals abuse investigation

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 10:50:00 -0600

Cebu, Philippines, Sep 27, 2012 / 10:50 am (CNA).- A National Geographic story on ivory smuggling has renewed focus on a prominent Philippines priest accused of sexual abuse in Los Angeles in the 1980s.

Monsignor Cristobal Garcia, an ivory collector, told a National Geographic correspondent he could smuggle ivory into the U.S. by wrapping it in “old, stinky underwear” and pouring ketchup on it.

The smuggling remarks, published in the October 2012 issue of National Geographic, caused a controversy which revealed that Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu suspended the priest in June because of the Vatican’s ongoing investigation of the child abuse case against him.

In a Sept. 26 statement from the Cebu archdiocese, Archbishop Palma explained that the abuse investigation began “long before the (ivory trade) controversy erupted.”

Prior to his recent suspension, Msgr. Garcia served as chair of the Archdiocese of Cebu’s Commission on Worship and as the business manager for the archdiocese’s main publication.

The priest was removed from ministry in Los Angeles and expelled from the Dominican order in 1985 after a nun told police that an altar boy had been found in his rectory bed, the Dallas Morning News said in 2005.

After the priest returned to the Philippines, the Archdiocese of Cebu under then-Archbishop Julio Cardinal Rosales may have ignored warnings from the Dominicans. It placed him in ministry and allowed him to work with children.

Msgr. Garcia acknowledged having sexual relations with two young teen altar boys in Los Angeles. He contended that one of them “not only seduced me, he also raped me.” The priest said his alleged victims obtained sex, drugs and money from him by threatening to accuse him of abuse.

The priest’s accusers rejected his claims.

Archdiocese of Los Angeles spokesman Tod Tamberg told CNA Sep. 26 that the archdiocese has “continually expressed concern” about Msgr. Garcia’s remaining in ministry to both the Cebu archdiocese and the Vatican.

The Los Angeles archdiocese “encouraged the Vatican to proceed with the investigation, in which we have fully cooperated,” Tamberg said.

Due to Msgr. Garcia’s suspension, he cannot say Mass in public or hear confessions. He has also been stripped of his positions in the archdiocese. The priest is now in Manila and reported to appear very sick.

Archbishop Palma said that he has followed the Holy See’s instructions about submitting documents and performing actions related to the case.

He said the Catholic Church has stated regret for the failure to address sex abuse “in a more decisive and effective way.”

The archbishop added that the Catholic Church supports the ban on the ivory trade.

Catholics in India calling for protest of 'objectionable' Bollywood film

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 02:24:00 -0600

Mumbai, India, Sep 25, 2012 / 02:24 am (CNA).- Catholic groups in India have called for the protest of an upcoming Hindi film if scenes portraying believers and clergy in an offensive manner are not removed from the film.

“If the clergy of any other religion would not be seen in such a manner, why is it expected that the Christian community keep quiet over such mockery and ridicule of its faith?” Joseph Dias said in a Sept. 21 statement from the Catholic-Christian Secular Forum.

Dias, who is head of the ecumenical group, noted that while stereotyping of Christians has existed in films, the movie “Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal” is a “new low” for Bollywood.

Among the objectionable scenes are a dance number featuring a Catholic priest on the steps of a church while wearing a garland of lottery tickets and rosary, a live person hiding in a coffin marked with a cross, and a priest holding a bouquet of flowers bearing the message, “I love you.”

In an e-mail to supporters, Dias encouraged all Christians to voice their disapproval over the film, which is set to release Sept. 26. Dias said that for the most part, Christians do not “protest vociferously enough.”

A group of representatives from various Catholic groups in India along with a priest of the Archdiocese of Bombay met and submitted a request to the Central Board of Film Certification Sept. 23 asking that the film's release be postponed until the objectionable scenes are removed.

Despite the Indian government having control over the censorship and rating of the country's booming film industry, Dias said it seems that movies mocking Christianity slip through more easily than others.

“The movie passed by the (Central Board of Film Certification) has hurt our religious sentiments and is giving the impression that the government is taking Christians for granted,” he said.

Judith Monterio of the Mumbai-based Association of Concerned Catholics said the negative portrayal of Christians is so serious that a special screening of the film to a board of Catholic representatives should be required before the film can hit theaters, the Times of India reported.

Father Rueben Tellis of the Bombay archdiocese said that a permanent member of the Catholic community should be placed in the Central Board of Film Certification to prevent future offenses.

Although India is the second most populous country in the world, with roughly 1.2 billion people, only about two percent of the population is Catholic.

Australian bishops pledge cooperation with abuse inquiry

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 00:01:00 -0600

Melbourne, Australia, Sep 25, 2012 / 12:01 am (CNA).- The Catholic bishops of Australia’s Victoria state have said the Catholic Church in Victoria will cooperate “fully” with the Australian state’s parliamentary inquiry into child abuse.

“Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church has caused deep concern among Catholics and the wider community,” Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne said Sept. 21. “It is shameful and shocking that this abuse, with its dramatic impact on those who were abused and their families, was committed by Catholic priests, religious and church workers.”

The Victorian parliament has launched an inquiry into how religious and other non-governmental organizations handled child abuse, following suicides by dozens of people abused by clergy, Agence France Presse reports.

The Catholic bishops said the incidence of abuse has fallen “dramatically” from the “appalling numbers” in the 1960s and 1970s. In the last 16 years, the Catholic Church in Victoria has upheld about 620 cases of criminal child abuse, with most claims regarding incidents between 30 and 80 years ago.

The bishops said there have been “very few” complaints of abuse since 1990.

Michael Holcroft, President of the Law Institute of Victoria, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that there is a need for independent investigations.

“Obviously there’s a public perception that the church investigating the church is Caesar judging Caesar, and I think that the community is now looking for somebody external, someone independent to get to the bottom of what's obviously been a big problem for a long, long time,” he said.

Chrissie Foster, the mother of two daughters raped by their parish priest in the mid-1980s, objected that the Church only revealed the figure on Sept. 21. Foster also accused the Church of doing nothing to stop abusive priests.

Archbishop Hart stated the Church’s support for “brave” victims of abuse who come forward and speak to the inquiry and the Church’s support for those who do not testify.

“We acknowledge the suffering and trauma endured by children who have been in the Church’s care, and the effect on their families,” the archbishop said. “We renew our apology to them.”

He said the Catholic Church’s submission to the inquiry examines what the Church has learned from “past failures” and how it has changed its approach to victims and offenders.

The submission discusses the Church’s commitment to caring for children and developments in society’s and the Church’s understanding of “the pernicious nature of pedophilia.”

“The Church, both internationally and in Australia, has continued to review and refine its processes, procedures, and practices,” he said. “We put the child first, and our refined measures promote the protection of children.”