CNA Daily News - Middle East - Africa

Mideast Christians unite in prayer for abducted bishops

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:55:00 -0600

Aleppo, Syria, May 23, 2013 / 02:55 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Orthodox and Catholic Christians in the Middle East gathered this week to pray for and appeal for the realease of two Orthodox bishops who were kidnapped in Syria one month ago.

“We renew our request for the abductees to...release the two Archbishops without hurting their health or physical situation; and release all other abducted priests and innocent civilians,” the Syriac and Greek Orthodox archdioceses of Aleppo said May 22.

“We trust that the mercy of the one God whom we all believe in, will guide the abductees and induce them to release the Archbishops without any pre-conditions, because there is no price equals the freedom of the two Archbishops, and no condition equals their safe return to their communities and churches.”

Just over a month ago, on April 22, Archbishop John Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Archbishop Paul Yagizi of the Greek Orthodox Church were kidnapped by armed men who killed their driver, Deacon Fatha' Allah Kabboud.

The bishops were abducted on their way back from the Turkish border, where they were negotiating the release of two priests, Fathers Michael Kayyal and Maher Mahfouz, who had themselves been kidnapped Feb. 9.

Last weekend, Christians in Aleppo gathered for an ecumenical prayer service at the city's Greek Orthodox cathedral. It was attended by Bishop Antoine Audo, the Chaldean Catholic bishop of the Aleppo eparchy.

He told Vatican Radio that it was a “sad” occasion, those attending having “tears in their eyes.” He said the situation has been confusing, as the kidnappers have made no ransom demands for their release, and added that “it's not a question of money.”

The Greek Orthodox in Damascus gathered May 20 to pray for Bishops Ibrahim and Yagizi, and Patriarch John X met May 22 with Eva Felipi, the Czech ambassador to Syria. They discussed the grievous Syrian civil war and the need for the return of the bishops, as well as all others kidnapped in the country.

In neighboring Jordan, some 2,000 Christians participated in a candlelight procession from a Greek Orthodox church to a Syriac Orthodox church in the capital, Amman.

Archbishop Maroun Lahham, an auxiliary bishop of the Jerusalem patriarchate, prayed at the procession for “tranquility and stability in beloved Syria” and for the release of the bishops, whom he called “two of the most significant Arab Christian personalities of our time.”

He told Fides after the prayers that “we prayed so that Jordan is not plagued by conflicts that are causing suffering to the peoples of neighboring countries.”

Two weeks ago, Syrian refugees already represented 10 percent of the Jordanian population. The nation's foreign minister said it could reach 25 percent by the end of the year. The flood of refugees are straining resources in the area.

The situation is so desperate that some refugee families are arranging marriages for their teenage daughters, or selling them, to older men so that they might have stability and escape the unsanitary conditions of the refugee camps.

The Syrian civil war has dragged on for 26 months. The United Nations estimates that 80,000 have died in the conflict. There are 1.5 million Syrian refugees in nearby countries, most of them in Jordan and Lebanon.

An additional 4.25 million Syrian people are believed to have been internally displaced by the war.

The Syriac and Greek Orthodox of Aleppo added that they are daily “living the nightmare” of lacking their abducted shepherds.

“We...express day after day our sadness and increasing pain about the abduction and the absence of these two eminent Prelates, and what they represent in terms of their holiness, their local and international rank, their active role on all levels including the spiritual, the thoughts, the academic, the education and the social (spheres).”

“But above all,” the archdioceses noted, “the humanitarian work which they were carrying within the current crisis which is engulfing our country Syria.”

New academic post aims to renew Africa's political culture

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:31:00 -0600

Vatican City, May 23, 2013 / 08:31 am (CNA).- Cardinal Robert Sarah, the president of Benin and officials from the Pontifical Lateran University presented a new chair whose goal will be to study African politics and form new generations of leaders in the Church’s social doctrine.

The new position, which is named after the late Beninese Cardinal Bernard Gantin, was dedicated May 23, “to recall what his life meant for the people of Benin, for the Church in Africa, and for the universal Church,” explained Cardinal Sarah, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum.

“I hope that this chair in his name – on ‘Socialization Policy in Africa’ – will initiate reflection on politics in the African context and prepare future leaders of African society who are guided by the Church's Social Doctrine,” the cardinal told the press.

President Thomas Yayi Boni was also present at the May 23 press conference to unveil the effort, and he spoke in French about the need for a renewal of the political culture in Africa. Making this a reality will require transforming the system and the individual, he added.

Professor Martin Nkafu Nkemnkia, who heads the university’s Department of Social and Human Science – African Studies, explained that the chair will be responsible for holding courses and seminars, promoting conferences and workshops, and seeking collaboration with institutions to increase and give value to Africa’s political culture.

“The contribution of the chair will be a renewal, but above all a formation of leaders, motivated by deep-rooted ethical principles, to overcome the difficult situation of crisis and corruption, both in politicians as well as in civil society itself, through a just economic vision and a more balanced form of the service that politics should offer,” Nkafu said.

Nigerian bishops lament disunity among local Catholics

Thu, 23 May 2013 04:06:00 -0600

Abuja, Nigeria, May 23, 2013 / 04:06 am (CNA).- As the Catholics of the Diocese of Ahiara protested the appointment of a bishop from a nearby diocese as their shepherd, local bishops expressed sadness at the disunity in the Church of Nigeria.

Bishop Peter Ebere Okpaleke – formerly a priest of the Awka diocese – was consecrated bishop of the Diocese of Ahiara in Nigeria May 21, while many residents of the diocese rallied against the move.

Due to the strong opposition among the local Mbaise community, Bishop Okpaleke was installed outside his new diocese, at Seat of Wisdom Seminary in Ulakwo, in the Archdiocese of Owerri.

Bishop Okpaleke was consecrated by Archbishop Anthony J. V. Obinna of Owerri, Ahiara's metropolitan archbishop, with a cardinal and several bishops in attendance, as well as heightened security.

The homily was given by Bishop Lucius I. Ugorji of Umuahia, who said that “acceptance of the papal appointment is a respect for the Pope, while the outright rejection and inflammatory statements and protests are spiteful and disrespectful of papal authority,” according to The Sun of Lagos.

According to the Vanguard of Lagos, Archbishop Obinna said May 19 that “we decided to organize the ordination away from Mbaise so as to give peace a chance...it is sad that what we are experiencing is a war between Catholics and Catholics.”

Bishop Okpaleke comes from the Awka diocese, 62 miles from Ahiara, and is not an ethnic Mbaise. The Catholics of the diocese wanted one of their own to be appointed bishop over them.

“The Mbaise people wanted their own bishop, who knows what's going on within the community,” George Awuzie, an Mbaise emigrant to California and a representative of Mbaise USA, told CNA May 20.

“They're sending someone from a different community, a different village, that doesn't know what we do within our area.”

The Mbaise are the most Catholic among Nigerian people – 77 percent of the population of 620,000 are Catholic. Surrounding diocese range between 4 and 64 percent Catholic.

Families in the rural diocese foster priestly and religious vocations, with at least 167 priestly ordinations for the diocese since its establishment in 1987.

The diocese is currently served by 127 priests and 113 religious, according to Vatican Radio. The Ahiara diocese covers 164 square miles – roughly one sixth the size of Rhode Island.

With such a wealth of priests, the Ahiara diocese sends many as missionaries to Western countries, and many Mbaise hoped that one of its own would become their bishop.

Ahiara's first ordinary, Bishop Victor A. Chikwe, served from 1987 until his death in Sept., 2010. The diocese was vacant for 26 months until Pope Benedict appointed Father Okpaleke last December.

Bishop Okpaleke was born in 1963, and was ordained a priest in 1992. He has served a pastor, university chaplain, and diocesan chancellor. After his ordination he studied canon law at Holy Cross Pontifical University in Rome, and has served on the tribunal for the Onitsha ecclesiastical province.

Both priests and faithful have made vocal, public protests against Bishop Okpaleke's appointment, blocking access to Ahiara's cathedral and disrupting both automobile and foot traffic in the area.

On May 16, some 400 Mbaise protested the appointment in the streets of the diocese, carrying signs with slogans such as “Awka has 5 bishops, Mbaise has 0 bishops” and asking for an “Mbaise son as Mbaise bishop.”

Conflict over the episcopal appointment highlights tribal tensions in Nigeria. Opposition to Bishop Okpaleke has not suggested any poor administration on his part, but focuses solely on his not being a member of the people whom he is to shepherd.

“They ended up going over (the priests of Ahiara) to get someone from another village; appointed a bishop from another village to be bishop of the Mbaise people,” Awuzie told CNA.

Awka, whence Bishop Okpaleke comes, is located in the state of Anambra. Ahiara, meanwhile, is located to the south in Imo state. Mbaise assert that the Nigerian hierarchy favors Anambra.

Mbaise note the appointment of bishops from the Onitsha province – based in Anambra – while few if any episcopal appointments are made of priests from the Owerri province, in Imo and Abia states.

The Mbaise, who are proud of their identity and strong Catholicism, resent what they call the “Anambranization” of the Church in southeast Nigeria, believing there to be corruption within the Church in Nigeria and a “recolonization” of the Mbaise.

The Mbaise are a tribe of the Igbo, one of the three major ethnic groups of Nigeria. Most Christians in Nigeria are Igbo, and reside in the south-east of the country. Soon after Nigeria gained independence from British colonialism, the government, led by the Yoruba and Hausa peoples, began to persecute the Igbo.

In 1967, the Igbo rebelled, forming the Republic of Biafra, resulting in the Nigerian Civil War. The rebellion was put down by 1970, and the region has yet to recover, having lost as many as one million of its population to war and famine.

Overall, Nigerian society is perceived as struggling with corruption, ranking at 139 among 176 countries considered by Transparency International's 2012 Corruption Perception Index. It is just ahead of Bangladesh, and in the company of Pakistan and Kenya.

In the face of division among the Igbo, brought to light by the controversy over Bishop Okpaleke, there have been calls for greater Igbo unity and identity.

Father Stan Chu Ilo, who is Igbo and teaches theology at the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto, wrote Jan. 11 at “Sahara Reporters” that the crisis has caused him to note that “after the Civil War and the ongoing marginalization of Ndigbo in Nigeria, I believe that the Igbo people should unite and work together as brothers and sisters for the good of the ethnic nation and the wider Nigerian, African and international community.”

“Igbo Catholicism should be the veritable instrument for bringing unity in our communities, parishes, dioceses and states in Igbo land,” he concluded.

US bishops oppose re-routing of Israel-Palestine separation wall

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:25:00 -0600

Washington D.C., May 8, 2013 / 05:25 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The U.S. bishops have criticized an Israeli plan to re-route a separation wall through the Cremisan Valley in the West Bank, claiming such a move would harm both Christian families and religious orders.

Protesting “in the strongest terms” and in “solidarity with our brother bishops in the Holy Land,” Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, voiced his opposition to an Israeli tribunal’s decision to move the wall and confiscate the surrounding area.

Bishop Pates, who chairs the Committee on International Justice and Peace for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, addressed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a May 6 letter.

He warned that the “Cremisan Valley is a microcosm of a protracted pattern that has serious implications for the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

The Cremisan Valley is located in the West Bank, near Bethlehem. A recent decision by the Israeli Special Appeals Committee has approved a proposal to move the Israeli-Palestinian separation wall through the valley.

Bishop Pates wrote that re-routing the wall would harm the Christian community in the valley, separating a Salesian monastery from its sister convent. Both will be parted from their lands, which will be confiscated for the barrier.

“At the same time the route will harm 58 Christian families whose livelihoods depend on these lands,” the bishop added.

He explained that continuing with the re-routing “will cut families off from agricultural and recreational lands, other family members, water sources and schools – including depriving Christian Palestinian youth of fellowship with their peers.”

Reiterating the U.S. bishops’ support for “a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Bishop Pates called for a reversal of the Cremisan Valley decision, as well as other policies “that undermine a just resolution of the conflict.”

Re-routing the wall, he cautioned, would “put Israeli citizens at risk and weaken initiatives for reconciliation and peace.”

The bishop explained that moving the wall “and disassociating Palestinian families from their lands and livelihoods will incite more resentment against the State of Israel among residents of the West Bank, not less, increasing the frustrations that can lead to violence.”

“As the wall moves and constricts more communities in the West Bank, the possibility of a future two-state resolution becomes less likely,” he warned.

Bishop Pates’ comments echoed those of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who has responded to the Israeli decision by saying that “the expropriation of lands does not serve the cause of peace and does not strengthen the position of the moderates.”

Caritas official: Bombing of new Tanzanian parish surpasses other attacks

Mon, 06 May 2013 08:50:00 -0600

Arusha, Tanzania, May 6, 2013 / 08:50 am (CNA).- A top official with the charity Caritas Tanzania says a Sunday attack on a new Catholic parish was the first of its kind for the East African country.

“It is not normal and this has never happened in our country before,” said Joachim Wangabo, executive secretary of Caritas Tanzania, in a May 6 interview with CNA.

“The government says it is associated with Muslim terrorists, but it is necessary to know why it happened,” he stated.

The attack happened May 5 as parishioners were beginning a Mass to officially open the new Saint Joseph’s Catholic parish in the northern Tanzanian city of Arusha.

According to Wangabo, the government officially reported that one woman died and 60 people were injured.

Magesa Mulongo, the Arusha regional commissioner, told AFP May 6 that six people had been arrested for the attack, two Tanzanians and four Saudis.

The bomb was thrown from a motorcycle into the church, according to eyewitnesses, and officials said the driver was arrested.

The attack happened despite heavy security for the inauguration of the church.

But the Caritas official noted that recent incidents, including one in Zanzibar where a Catholic priest was shot in the head and another where buildings were set on fire, were “not like this.”

“We are very much shocked because it is the first time this happened in a church, when people were about to start praying and the Mass was about to begin,” explained Wangabo, who is based in Dar es Salaam.

According to the executive secretary, Catholics will react “with an official statement by the president of the episcopal bishops’ conference, which has not yet been released.

“Caritas is waiting for information from the archdiocese so we can give our response,” Wangabo explained.

Caritas Tanzania is a Catholic charity that coordinates with 29 diocesan offices throughout the country.

The Pope’s representative to Tanzania, Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla, escaped unhurt from the explosion.

“I would like to express my solidarity to the Archbishop of Arusha and to the whole Catholic community of Arusha, for the very sad event that happened,” said Archbishop Padilla.

“The attack should not have happened because it was a celebration of joy, of opening a new church, a new parish,” he told Vatican Radio in an interview published on May 6.

Archbishop Padilla said he is praying for “the victims who have died and those who are wounded, some of them very gravely.”

“I pray that peace will always reign, that violence would not be the way to resolve tensions,” he stated.

“This is my hope, and I hope that I can also contribute to the continuance of peaceful coexistence in this country, which has always been there in the last many years,” he said.

Pastor's move to solitary confinement in Iran sparks worry

Sat, 04 May 2013 13:19:00 -0600

Washington D.C., May 4, 2013 / 01:19 pm (CNA).- A U.S. citizen being held in an Iranian prison for his Christian activities has reportedly been moved to solitary confinement, prompting concerns over his health and safety.

“We believe that he is being beaten in solitary confinement. We have no way of finding out about his health,” said Naghmeh Abedini, whose husband, Saeed, has been imprisoned in Iran since last fall.

“There will be no more visitations allowed and we will have no way of knowing how Saeed is doing,” she explained.

Pastor Saeed Abedini is an American citizen born in Iran who is currently serving an eight-year sentence in Iran’s Evin Prison. Raised Muslim, Abedini converted to Christianity in 2000, and after marrying an American woman, he became an American citizen in 2010.

He spent time working with house churches in Iran until the government ordered him to stop. Since 2009, he has worked exclusively with non-religious orphanages in the country.

But despite complying with the government’s demands, he was arrested in the fall of 2012 during a visit to these orphanages. He was charged with posing a threat to national security through his previous work with the Christian churches, even though the churches are technically legal in the country.

Family members in Iran say that Abedini is weakened from torture and beatings and has sustained internal injuries that have not received medical treatment for months. They also warned that his kidneys may be failing.

According to the American Center for Law and Justice, which is representing Abedini’s wife in the U.S., the pastor was one of a number of prisoners in his ward who signed “a letter expressing to prison officials their concern about the lack of medical care received and the threats and harsh treatment facing family members who come to visit.”

In addition, the prisoners “expressed their dissatisfaction in a peaceful, silent protest in an outside courtyard at the prison.”

Ten prisoners, including Abedini, were then placed in solitary confinement, and family members have said that they were turned away from seeing him, being told that he is not allowed to have visitors any longer.

Abedini “was most likely on a list of prisoners the prison wants to break,” a former Iranian political prisoner told the American Center for Law and Justice.

He suggested that the pastor was placed in solitary confinement “to put pressure on his belief and faith.”

The American Center for Law and Justice has voiced concerns that the pastor is “likely to be beaten again, in private, away from other witnesses and prisoners.” Given his internal injuries, possibly failing kidney and lack of medical treatment, the group warned that Abedini is “facing perhaps his most grave situation since his imprisonment last fall.”

The organization has been working for months to raise awareness and support of Abedini, calling on the U.S. government to intervene on behalf of the American citizen in the face of Iran’s international law violations. More than 40,000 people have sent letters of support and encouragement to the pastor.

Abedini’s wife said that the pastor had previously been placed in solitary confinement and described the experience as “the hardest time in his life.”

She is now pleading urgently for prayers on behalf of her husband.

“Please pray for his health and healing. Pray for his release. Pray that the Lord would use this for His Glory and salvation of many,” she said.

Kidnapped Syrian bishop in need of medicine

Wed, 01 May 2013 12:36:00 -0600

Washington D.C., May 1, 2013 / 12:36 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- No news has emerged of the two kidnapped Orthodox bishops in Syria, more than a week since their disappearance, and reports have now surfaced that one is in grave need of medications for his health conditions.

“We still do not know where the two archbishops are or who has taken them,” a spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo told Aid to the Church in Need April 29.

Concerns are escalating because one of the men – Archbishop John Ibrahim – requires medicine for high blood pressure and diabetes, the spokesman explained, and “it is a life-threatening problem if he does not receive his medicine.”

Archbishop Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Archbishop Paul Yagizi of the Greek Orthodox Church were kidnapped April 22 near Aleppo by armed men who apparently killed their driver, Deacon Fatha' Allah Kabboud.

It remains unclear who carried out the kidnapping. The Syrian government and rebel groups have both traded accusations over who is to blame.

The bishops were abducted on their way back from the Turkish border, where they were negotiating the release of two priests, Fathers Michael Kayyal and Maher Mahfouz, who had themselves been kidnapped Feb. 9.

“What is so sad about this is that both men were among those working hardest for peace and yet in this time of conflict they are among those paying the highest price,” the spokesman said.

“There are many Christians being kidnapped now and this is the first time where we have absolutely no clue about what has happened, where nobody has taken responsibility for the abduction.”

The Syrian civil war entered its second year a month ago, and the country's Christian minority has been caught in its midst.

Many Syrian Christians live in Damascus, Aleppo and Homs, all of which are cities strongly contested by the government and the rebels. Many have fled to nearby Lebanon.

Pope responds to bishops' kidnapping with 'intense prayer'

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 05:31:00 -0600

Vatican City, Apr 23, 2013 / 05:31 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis is responding to the kidnapping of two Orthodox bishops in Syria with “intense prayer” for their health and release.

The Pope “was informed of this serious new act, which adds to the growing violence in recent days and a humanitarian emergency of vast proportions,” Vatican press office director Father Federico Lombardi said in an April 23 statement.

He is following the events “closely and with intense prayer for the health and the release of the two kidnapped bishops,” Fr. Lombardi reported.

Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim of the Syrian Orthodox Church and Archbishop Paul Yagizi of the Greek Orthodox Church were kidnapped April 22 near Aleppo, Syria by armed men, who killed their driver.

The official Syrian news agency SANA reported late Monday that the archbishops were engaged in humanitarian work just over the border in Turkey and were returning to Aleppo when they were attacked.

The opposition rebels and the Syrian government have both traded blame over who carried out the kidnapping, so it remains unclear who is responsible.

Fr. Lombardi said that the assault on the archbishops “and the killing of their driver, while carrying out a humanitarian mission, is a dramatic confirmation of the tragic situation faced by the people of Syria and its Christian communities.”

Pope Francis, he said, is praying that, “with the commitment of all, the Syrian people will finally discover effective answers to the humanitarian tragedy and see on the horizon real hopes for peace and reconciliation.”

At an April 17 press event in Rome, Greek Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham, said that 2 million Syrians have been forced to leave their homes, over 1,000 Christians have been killed and 20 churches have been destroyed in Syria’s conflict.

Christians make up between five and 10 percent of Syria’s population, but large numbers of them have fled to neighboring countries like Lebanon and Jordan to escape the fighting.

Egyptian police accused of siding with cathedral attackers

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 06:03:00 -0600

Cairo, Egypt, Apr 20, 2013 / 06:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A media representative for Egypt's Catholic bishops echoed concerns that police sided with Islamic extremists who attacked a funeral service en masse at St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo.

“The police must have been aware of the situation. So why were the police not in front of the cathedral?” asked Father Rafik Greiche of the Egyptian Catholic bishops' conference.

He told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need that the police “only arrived two hours later, and then they protected the attackers.” Muslim extremists had previously threatened to disrupt the service, the priest said.

The April 7 funeral was for four Christians killed in a gunfight that followed a dispute in the town of Khusus near Cairo. A Muslim was also killed in that clash.

After the Christians’ funeral, mourners left the cathedral and joined sympathetic Muslims in chanting slogans against President Mohammed Morsi and calling for his removal.

At some point violence broke out for unclear reasons. At its worst, 200 people attacked the Christians, some throwing stones and petrol bombs from the roofs of buildings surrounding the cathedral.

Christians took up the defense of the cathedral and threw fire bombs and brick shards at the riot police, some of whom were injured.

The clash lasted until late in the evening. Two were killed and more than 90 hurt. The New York Times is among the media outlets reporting the apparent alliance between the attackers and the riot police.

Coptic Catholic Bishop Kyrillos William Samaan of Assiut has condemned the attack.

“Nobody could have imagined that anybody would attack such an important symbol for all Egyptians as St Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo,” the bishop said. “It is shocking. But we will never learn the real motives for these attacks.”

Fr. Greiche said that other local Muslims have voiced their support and sympathy for the Christian community.

“All of our Muslim friends told us that the events make them feel ashamed,” he said.

The priest recently visited Azhar University, a prominent Sunni institution, noting that the sheiks there “assured us that such attacks are not compatible with Islam.”

The attack also drew condemnation from Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, who said he regarded any attack on churches as “a personal attack” against him.

Despite the president’s words, some Egyptian Christians told Reuters news service that the violence has prompted them to consider leaving their homeland.

Orthodox Coptic leader Pope Tawadros II said the president has not done everything he could to protect the cathedral.

“We want actions, not words,” he said.

Fr. Greiche said the violence comes at a time of improving relations between Egyptian Catholics and other Christians. The Catholic leadership is in “permanent contact” with the Protestant and Orthodox Churches in Egypt.

He said relations with the Coptic Orthodox have “completely transformed” since the election of Pope Tawadros in November 2012.

“Tawadros is very open,” he added. The Orthodox Pope attended the enthronement of the new Coptic Catholic Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac.

“That had never happened before,” he said.

Another unprecedented event in Egyptian Christian relations is still in development. Pope Tawadros intends to visit Pope Francis in Rome.

Pope Francis assures Iran, Pakistan quake victims of prayers

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 06:21:00 -0600

Vatican City, Apr 17, 2013 / 06:21 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis is praying for the victims of the earthquake that killed 35 and injured 100 in Iran and Pakistan.

“I raise a prayer to God for the victims and for all those who are in pain, and I wish to express my closeness to the Iranian and Pakistani people,” he said during his April 17 general audience at the Vatican.

“I learned with sadness of the violent earthquake that struck the peoples of Iran and Pakistan, bringing death, suffering and destruction,” he said.

The earthquake hit the border of Iran and Pakistan on April 16 at 3:44 p.m. local time.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake caused 35 deaths in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province and around 150 have been found injured in both countries so far.

Baluchistan has since been shaken by several strong aftershocks including one today with a magnitude of 5.7.

Tremors were also felt in India and in other Persian Gulf countries on April 16.

Authorities say it was the worst earthquake Iran has seen in 50 years, but it had limited casualties because its epicenter was in a remote region.

It caused 70 percent of houses to collapse in Mashki, Pakistan, and the country’s military is helping rescue efforts in both countries.

Impacted Iranian cities include Khash, Zahedan, Iranshahr and Saravan.

Over 180,000 people live in Khash, while Saravan has a population of 250,000.

The executive director of Caritas Pakistan, Amjad Gulzar, reported in an April 16 blog post that his Catholic relief group is coordinating with Baluchistan’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority.

Bishop warns of Church plundering in Central African Republic

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:26:00 -0600

Bangassou, Apr 15, 2013 / 04:26 pm (CNA).- In the midst of a conflict between the government of the Central African Republic and the rebel Séléka coalition, the Church is suffering from fighting and theft by rebel forces, a local bishop said.

“The plundering continues, day and night, at any time. The terrified people do not flee, but weep, and try to defend the little they still have,” Bishop Juan-José Aguirre Muñoz of the Diocese of Bangassou told Aid to the Church in Need on April 4.

Bishop Aguirre is a priest of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus and has been Bangassou's bishop since 2000. Bangassou is located in the east of the nation, on the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Central African Republic also borders Cameroon, Chad, Sudan and South Sudan. Most of the nation’s citizens are Christian, though significant minorities practice indigenous religions or Islam.

The country suffered a war from 2004 to 2007, which sprang up again in December.

“Rebels or people disguised as rebels can break into…homes at any time and rob them, armed with submachine guns,” said Bishop Aguirre.

The rebel Séléka group entered Bangassou on March 11. According to Aid to the Church in Need, the coalition is of Muslim origin.

As the Séléka advanced across the country, President, Francois Bozizé, was ousted on March 24. Bishop Aguirre was in the capital city of Bangui on that day.

“While we were celebrating Palm Sunday Mass,” he said, “firing with heavy artillery and submachine guns began at 7.55 am and lasted for three hours. We live next to the presidential palace, so that we were in the thick of the fighting.”

Then, he said, a group of Séléka “forced their way heavily armed into Bangui Cathedral just as the Mass was ending. The rebels began to fire into the ceiling. People threw themselves to the floor, onto the palm leaves. They were forced to hand over the keys for cars and motorcycles parked outside.”

In his own diocese, the town of Rafai was captured by some 20 bandits disguised as Séléka, he said. Despite this, no-one was hurt and “the Muslims from the region intervened to see off these 20 street robbers.”

“The risen Christ is triumphant, but He always shows the Apostles His wounds,” reflected Bishop Aguirre.

Bandits are also stealing goods from the Church and from religious orders, the bishop said, telling of a priest, Father Agustín, who walked 37 miles to say Easter Mass in one of his parishes, since a burglar had taken his transport.

The Central African Republic is among the poorest countries in the world, with extremely low human development and major human rights abuses.

Since 2002, Aid to the Church in Need has been supporting 240 projects in the Central African Republic, providing over $3.2 million.

The aid has been used to safeguard priests, purchase cars and motorcycles, support pastoral work and promote various construction and further training measures.

Egypt's Christians call for peace after attack on Orthodox cathedral

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 02:03:00 -0600

Cairo, Egypt, Apr 9, 2013 / 02:03 am (CNA).- Christian leaders in Egypt appealed for calm after a mob attacked St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo on Sunday during the funeral of four Coptic Christians killed in sectarian clashes.

At least two Christians died and over 80 were injured in the Sunday attacks, which marked the third day of sectarian violence, according to the Christian Post.

Pope Tawadros II, the Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church said the Egypt must “keep calm” to preserve security and national unity.

The Council of Churches in Egypt condemned the attack and called for “immediate action” from the government, Fides news agency reports.

Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi told Patriarch Tawadros by phone that he is committed to stopping the violence and that he considers “any attack against churches as a personal attack” against him.

On Friday a dispute in the town of Khusus near Cairo turned into a gunfight that killed four Christians and a Muslim.

After the Christians’ funeral Sunday, Christians left the cathedral and joined sympathetic Muslims to chanting slogans against President Mohammed Morsi. They called for his removal and the removal of his allies.

Violence broke out, though it is unclear how it started. Assailants were few at first, but their numbers grew to over 200 people.

They stationed themselves on the roofs of buildings surrounding the cathedral, attacking Christians and others with stones and petrol bombs until late in the evening, Fides News Agency reports.

Security forces and riot police appeared to have sided with the Muslim men who were attacking the Christians, the New York Times says.

Christians took up the defense of the cathedral and threw fire bombs and brick shards at the riot police, some of whom were injured.

Egypt’s Interior Ministry has charged that the mourners had started the attacks by vandalizing cars, which led to clashes and fights with others in the area.

Coptic Christians, who are descendants of Egypt’s pre-Muslim population, make up about 10 percent of the predominantly Muslim population of Egypt.

Pope calls for end to Central African Republic violence

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:36:00 -0600

Vatican City, Mar 27, 2013 / 11:36 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis appealed for an “immediate halt to violence and looting” in the Central African Republic after a coup toppled the country’s government over the weekend.

“I call for an immediate halt to the violence and looting, and a political solution to the crisis to be found as soon as possible that would restore peace and harmony to that dear country for too long marked by conflict and division,” he said March 27 at his first general audience.

“I am closely following what is currently happening in the Central African Republic and wish to assure my prayers for all those who are suffering, especially the relatives of the victims, the wounded and those who have lost their homes and have been forced to flee,” he told the thousands of pilgrims in Saint Peter’s Square today.

Michel Djotodia, the leader of the rebels, ousted President Francois Bozize in a coup over the weekend.

Djotobia said in a March 26 statement that he is suspending the constitution and dissolving parliament.

During the coup, 13 South African troops who were sent in January to support the government against the rebels, were killed on the outskirts of the capital, Bangui.

The rebels have accused the president of breaking January’s peace deal, which created a power-sharing government composed of rebels, civilian opposition and Bozize loyalists.

In the wake of the government being overthrown, Doctors Without Borders reported widespread looting of hospitals in the capital city, Bangui.

UNICEF warned March 26 that the lives of 600,000 children in Central African Republic are being seriously affected by the ongoing conflict across the country.

Even before the fighting, the U.N. agency estimated that 2,500 children, boys and girls, were in the country’s armed groups.

Good Friday stations pray for Christian unity in Middle East

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:03:00 -0600

Rome, Italy, Mar 26, 2013 / 04:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Syrian Christian who fled the fighting in his country believes that the Good Friday Stations of the Cross at the Coliseum will help promote Christian unity and raise awareness of the growing turmoil in the Middle East.

“This will raise more awareness because the situation in Syria is dangerous, especially for Christians,” said Wael Salibi, a Christian Syrian who moved to Italy in September to flee the violence.

“Christians know they will rise again like Jesus did on the third day, but only with a lot of unity and by praying together,” Salibi told CNA in a March 26 interview.

Pope Francis will celebrate the Way of the Cross at the Coliseum on Friday evening, a solemn tradition that takes place by candle light every year.

Benedict XVI asked Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai to choose a group of Lebanese to write the 14 meditations for the Way of the Cross and to supervise them.

His wish was to raise awareness and increase prayers for the Arabic Christians living in the Middle East, following his visit to Lebanon in September 2012.

“Christians are facing very serious problems and the Lebanese lived (with) the aftermath of their civil war for many years, so they understand,” said the 25-year-old Syrian.

The meditations focus on ongoing violence in the Middle East and Christian disunity, as well as the abuse of women and children and the promotion of abortion.

Six of the reflections were written by representatives from the six rites of the Catholic Church in Lebanon: Latin, Maronite, Melkite, Armenian, Syriac and Chaldean.

The remaining eight were composed by six different Catholic youth groups, a special needs group and a non-governmental organization.

“When rebels turned the Homs neighborhood of Hamadea into a battlefield about a year ago, 80,000 Christians were forced to leave,” Salibi recounted.

And in his estimation, the Lebanese “live in a volcano ready to erupt any time.”

“When Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai visited Syria in February, he left a strong message of how important it is for Christians in the Middle East to unite,” said Salibi.

His visit to Syria was the first by the head of the Maronite Church since Lebanon gained independence from France in 1943.

“Muslims and Christians lived side by side, like a rainbow, but people are now being forced to leave their country and this is making the region lose its uniqueness,” said Salibi.

“Christians play a very important role there since they make a bridge between the East and the West and between Islam Shiites and Sunnis,” he added.

The young people who helped write the reflections arrived in Assisi from Lebanon on March 26, and they will later make their way to Rome.

After two years of Syrian violence, religious sisters continue aid

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 18:02:00 -0600

Damascus, Syria, Mar 15, 2013 / 06:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- While the world marks the second anniversary of demonstrations that began what is now the Syrian civil war, the Sisters of Charity of Besançon continue to help the poor of the country's capital.

“Everybody is afraid. They don't know how long they have to live,” Sister Marie-Joseph Chanaa told Aid to the Church in Need March 13.

When someone goes to work he doesn't know if he'll come home again,” she said.

Sr. Chanaa and five other Sisters of Charity of Besançon work and pray in Damascus to care for their neighbors, who are caught in the midst of war. She said to Aid to the Church in Need that they pray daily for peace, and she encourages those she helps to maintain hope.

On March 15, 2011, demonstrations across Syria sprang up, protesting the rule of Bashar al-Assad, Syria's president and leader the country's Ba'ath Party. The next month the Syrian army began to deploy to put down the uprisings, firing on protesters.

Since then, the conflict has morphed into a civil war, and many governments have recognized the rebels as the legitimate representatives of the Syrian people. The rebels control the Euphrates river and much of the north of the country, with the Assad government controlling cities in the east.

The UN estimates that 70,000 people have been killed in the war.

The fighting continues to put pressure on Syria's minority Christian population, leading to fears that more Syrians will join the many Christians who have already left the Middle East. About 10 percent of Syria's population is Christian.

More than 1 million refugees from Syria have flooded into Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq, and inside Syria another estimated 2.5 million human persons are internally displaced. Of the 1 million refugees, in January it was estimated that some 300,000 were Christian.

The Syrian rebels are divided among secularists who support a Western-style democracy, and Islamists who may impose sharia law on the nation.

The European Union has levied an arms embargo against Syria, but some are calling for it to be lifted. Both Russia and Iran are believed to be arming the Syrian government, and this week both the UK and France have indicated a desire to arm the rebels.

“If we want to take individual action, (and) we think that is in our national interest, of course we are free to do so,” UK prime minister David Cameron said at a March 15 press conference.