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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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NEW DELHI, India, APRIL 20, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Cardinal Telesphore Toppo summarized the major concerns of India's Christian community in a meeting he had with the prime minister, Manmohan Singh.
Cardinal Toppo, the president of Catholic bishops' conference of India, called today's meeting cordial and positive.
The 67-year-old cardinal asked the prime minister to set up a committee to study the socioeconomic profile of the Christian community in India in the light of a recent report which said that Christians were the most unemployed.
The cardinal also drew attention to the distress of farmers across the country, where grinding poverty has led to suicides.
Pointing out the ongoing atrocities directed at Christians in different states and the enactment of the so-called Freedom of Religion Bills banning conversions, Cardinal Toppo told Singh that such laws were against universal human rights and the freedom of conscience.
Cardinal Toppo also discussed issues of migration, equal rights and the need for an adoption law.
Code: ZE07042010
Date: 2007-04-20
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Remote Communities Still Need the Basics
ABATA, Sudan, APRIL 20, 2007 (Zenit.org).- While people living in displacement camps now have access to basic services, remote communities in Darfur have received little humanitarian assistance because of continued security threats to aid workers.
Charlotte Brudenell reported that Action by Churches Together International and Caritas Internationalis are working together in a joint response to the Darfur crisis by providing clean water and improvements to hygiene, although their efforts have been hampered by violent militias.
Brudenell said the international community has often defined the conflict in Darfur as one divided along ethnic lines, but this simplified analysis is crumbling in the face of reality given that alliances continue to shift.
According to Brudenell, "Last month, two vehicles from the only other international NGO working in the region were attacked and stolen on their way to Abata. All humanitarian movement to the area was stopped while investigations into the latest incident took place."
Brudenell added, "Similarly, in five other villages to the southeast of Zalingei, where ACT-Caritas has begun to implement water and sanitation programs, work has stopped due to the presence of armed militias that are now fighting each other in the area."
"Humanitarian and development aid is vital," said Brudenell. "It is not only a way to limit polarization and build bridges between the different communities in Darfur, but it also addresses one root cause of the conflict in Darfur -- lack of development."
Code: ZE07042012
Date: 2007-04-20
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Archbishops Speak Out Against New Legislation
MELBOURNE, Australia, APRIL 20, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The lower house in Victoria passed legislation to legalize therapeutic cloning, though opponents are hopeful that the bill will have a harder time gaining approval in the upper house.
Fifteen members of the Labor Government, the Liberal Party and the Nationals voted against party colleagues in the lower house to support the new stem-cell legislation, bringing Wednesday's final tally to 58-25.
Introduced last month, the legislation would allow Victorian scientists to clone human embryos for medical research through somatic cell nuclear transfer, commonly known as therapeutic cloning, according to The Australian.
Scientists would be able to take the nucleus from an adult skin cell, insert it in an unfertilized egg and then use the resultant embryonic stem cells for medical purposes.
On the eve of debate over the bill, Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne said, "Life once conceived must be protected with the utmost care."
"The Church's view," the archbishop said, "has been long held and dates back even before earliest Christian times to the Hebrew Scriptures."
"It is wrong to believe that cloned human embryos have no intrinsic value," he added. "They share in the same human life that we all do, made in the image of God and, therefore, deserving of the same unconditional moral respect owed to all human beings."
Archbishop Hart explained, "This situation is not changed simply because of scientific claims of the potential therapeutic benefits that may be gained by their destruction."
Other initiatives
Embryonic stem cell and cloning legislation has been making headway in Australia since last year's federal Parliament narrowly passed a law allowing scientists to clone human embryos to extract their stem cells for research purposes.
In an effort similar to Victoria's, the government of West Australian has recently introduced a bill to overturn the state's ban on therapeutic cloning.
Perth Archbishop Barry Hickey asked West Australian members of Parliament to oppose cloning of embryos for medical research.
He said that to create a human embryo and destroy it to obtain stem cells was morally wrong. "The end does not justify the means."
Archbishop Hickey recommended, "Let us take God's way and use the adult stem cells already provided without taking human life."
Code: ZE07042011
Date: 2007-04-20
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Hope Tragedy Doesn't Generate "New Prejudice or Violence"
WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 20, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The bishops of Korea have expressed their condolences to the American people in the wake of the 32 slayings at Virginia Tech by a native-born Korean.
In a letter sent to Bishop William Skylstad, president of the U.S. episcopal conference, Bishop John Chang Yik of Chuchchon says: "In the name of all our Catholics, we the bishops of Korea wish to express our profound shock and sorrow at the tragic event at Virginia Tech University.
"We ask you kindly to convey our heartfelt condolence and prayers for all the innocent young victims and the wounded, to their families and dear ones, and indeed to all the good people of the United States at this hour of their deep grief."
The 23-year-old killer, Cho Seung-Hui, moved to the United States from South Korea when he was eight. He was also a Virginia Tech student and had a history of mental problems.
"We are particularly pained, as Koreans ourselves, to learn that this incomprehensible, dreadful act of violence was committed by a Korean student," wrote Bishop Chang, who is the president of the Korean episcopal conference.
He added: "But we sincerely hope also that this tragedy does not generate new prejudice or violence among people, but rather be an occasion for all of us today to reflect anew on the suffering of our neighbors and the supreme dignity and value of human life.
"We also hope it moves us to look with a caring heart whether people around us live in isolation and desperation, and embrace them with brotherly love.
"May the risen Lord who vanquished death itself on the cross grant his gift of life and true peace to all the afflicted, as we entrust them to his infinite mercy."
Response
Bishop Skylstad replied, assuring the Korean prelates of his gratitude: "On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I want to thank you for your expression of solidarity regarding the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech.
"We share your 'profound shock and sorrow' and join you in prayer for the victims of this terrible tragedy. I am sure that your kind expression of condolence and prayer will help to bring healing to our people.
"I am sharing your message with His Excellency Francis X. DiLorenzo, the Bishop of Richmond, in whose diocese these terrible events unfolded, and will also share it with the wider community in the United States as we grieve this loss."
Code: ZE07042015
Date: 2007-04-20
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Encourages Resuming Path of Dialogue and Negotiation
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 20, 2007 (ZENIT.org).- Benedict XVI asked the president of Sri Lanka to respect human rights and to resume dialogue to help end violence in that strife-torn Asian nation.
The Vatican Information Service reported: "Today the Holy Father Benedict XVI received in audience Mahinda Rajapaksa, president of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
"In the course of the talks -- and in the light of the current situation in Sri Lanka -- the need was reiterated to respect human rights and resume the path of dialogue and negotiation as the only way to put an end to the violence that is bloodying the island."
The meeting lasted about 20 minutes. The president was accompanied by a 16-person delegation, as well as his wife and one of his sons.
The country has been struck by violence since 1983 when the rebel Tamil Tigers began fighting for an independent state.
The Vatican said in its report of the meeting: "The Catholic Church, which offers a significant contribution to the life of the country, will intensify her delicate task of forming consciences with the sole ambition of favoring the common good, reconciliation and peace."
Catholics comprise 7% of Sri Lanka's 21 million people. Buddhists comprise 70%.
After his audience with Benedict XVI, the president went on to meet Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state.
Code: ZE07042003
Date: 2007-04-20
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VATICAN CITY, APRIL 20, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI will send the monetary gifts he received for his 80th birthday and the second anniversary of his pontificate to the Holy Land, Africa and other needy regions.
The Pope turned 80 on Monday and marked the second anniversary of his election on Thursday.
Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, the Holy Father's personal secretary, reported the intended destination of the gifts on Vatican Radio.
The cardinals of the Roman Curia gave the Pontiff a gift of €100,000 ($135,000) during the lunch they had with him in the Apostolic Palace on the day of his birthday, April 16.
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, presented Benedict XVI the gift, asking him that, if possible, the needs of Christians in the Holy Land could be kept in mind.
Code: ZE07042001
Date: 2007-04-20