Good news has emerged from the Holy See which is worth joy and jubilation. It is the announcement that a new Vatican foundation was launched on October 21, 2021 by Cardinal Gambetti designed to put social justice, solidarity and the construction of the common good at centre-stage.
In a surprising statement but a timely one that has been made by Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan of Antioch and all the East of the Syriacs to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), he states that Christian emigration from Lebanon urgently needs to be stemmed. He also warned that--with the spiraling economic crisis with more than 50 per cent of the population living below the poverty line accompanied by an upsurge in violence--"if the West fails to help the Christians in Lebanon, the community could soon be extinct."
In his address at the UN General Assembly to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Holy See Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher noted that this global observance "is an occasion to impress on the world, and particularly on the leaders of nuclear-weapon states, humanity’s insistent demand for the elimination of nuclear weapons and this forum’s many pledges to rid the world of the threat of nuclear war."
Four years have passed with Franciscan nun Sister Gloria Cecelia Narvaez living in captivity. She is finally freed in good health and in sparkling good spirits. Sister Gloria was abducted by extremist gunmen, on February 7, 2017 at Koutiala, close to the border with Burkina Faso, 400 kms from the Capital of Mali. She was held for four years and eight months in captivity.
The failures of the human race have no limits, and the more "civilization" progresses, the more the failures are diversified and the greater the number of people who excel in them using everything new and brilliant.
In an article posted by Andrea Tornielli, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Professor Ahmad Muhammad Al-Tayeb referred to the Encyclical "Fratelli tutti" published a year ago saying that “it is definitely of huge importance, especially in this time, for both Muslims and non-Muslims.”
The highlight of his statement is that he said that this "encyclical is useful for Muslims and at the same time for others because it says that we are all brothers.”
In light of the current economic situation experienced by several health institutions worldwide as a results of the spread of Corona pandemic and the prevailing economic recession, His Holiness Pope Francis has established a new foundation to offer financial support to Catholic healthcare institutions so as to surmount the financial difficulties faced by a number of Catholic health facilities. This step represents the needed Holy See support for the canonical bodies that work with the sole purpose of improving the health of the sick and alleviating their suffering.
October 3, 2021 will be a day to remember. It is a day when a document that heals our wounded humanity was signed.
Press reports have indicated that during the meeting 'Faith and Science: Towards Cop26' held in the Vatican on Monday, October 3, Pope Francis along with scientists and religious leaders signed a document which calls for the world to achieve net-zero carbon emissions as soon as possible, to reduce its own emissions, and to finance emission reductions by poorer nations.
Over the period September 27-28, 2021 the capital of Jordan, Amman, witnessed the holding of a very daring conference titled, 'Journalists Against Hate'. It was a unique conference, held by the Muslim Council of Elders and the Catholic Center for Studies and Media in Jordan, with a lucid call to eliminate hate speech and replace it by speech that entrenches harmony, good wishes, and cordiality.
