Pope Francis renewed his appeal for peace in Syria and throughout the world inviting Christians of every denomination, believers of every religious tradition and all people of good will to take part in the worldwide fast and vigil of prayer and penance for peace. He has written a letter to President Vladimir Putin of Russia and all leaders of this year's G20 summit in St. Petersburg.
On 28 August 1963, when Martin Luther King proclaimed "I have a dream" to a crowd of 250,000 people, he captured the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement and with millions watching on TV, reached out to a nation in a way that has great resonance 50 years later.
Pope Francis said the "terrible images" of the dead, including children, "push me once again to raise a voice so that the roar of the weapons would stop." "It is not clashes, but an ability to meet and to dialogue that offers prospects for a hope of resolving the problems," the pope said after reciting the Angelus with visitors in St. Peter's Square.
Talk of armed intervention in Syria is all about western powers satisfying their desire not to look impotent. - Tony Blair's calls for military action in Syria 'would be doing little more than satisfying our own sense of retributive morality
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What is the BBC doing to help Christians today who are suffering at the hands of Islam – absolutely nothing! 100,000 Christians have been killed over the last year and yet this barely warrants a news item.
In the letter, the Holy Father emphasized that, for the theme “to attain its broadest and deepest resonance, it is necessary to ensure that all political and economic activity, whether national or international,” makes reference to humanity.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby is right to look to St Benedict for inspiration in the modern financial crisis. From the sixth century, a dark transitional age that is often compared to our own era, St Benedict still channels us a fresh wisdom.
Cult of money is today's golden calf, warns Francis. Pope Francis yesterday gave his first major analysis on the causes of the global financial crisis. In a speech to ambassadors he said:
Pope Francis made a passionate attack on the “slave labour” conditions endured by workers inside the eight-storey building in Bangladesh which collapsed last week, claiming at least 384 lives. According to Vatican Radio, he condemned the “selfish profit” motive of the companies whose search for low prices meant “slave conditions” for workers.
The Most Rev Justin Welby, a former City oil trader, called for a radical overhaul of the financial system including the break-up of at least one major state controlled bank and a return to smaller, regional banks, curbing the dominance of London. He also called for banking itself to be turned into a proper profession with its own set of professional standards rather than being “something that people drift into”.
The age of 18 is widely accepted as the start of adulthood but those one or two years younger occupy a strange twilight zone where they are given many freedoms and responsibilities but denied others.
It might take new financial crisis to restore morality to City. The Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, will liken profit-obsessed business chiefs to staff at the scandal-hit Mid Staffordshire hospitals trust who lost sight of basic morality because of an obsession with money.
Father Biong Kuol's parish is a sprawling collection of temporary huts made from sticks and sun-bleached plastic sheeting. A few skinny cows and goats wander about. The huts contain few personal belongings, as most of the displaced families living here fled from villages to the north with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They've lived almost two years in a camp that the world is trying hard to ignore.
Kirby’s essay stood out because he tackled the issue “not from a position of gloom, but actually of optimism and ambition”. In his essay, Kirby writes: “We must adopt the right mindset: positive in outlook and global in ambition. For optimism stems not from denying change, but from recognising the possibilities it presents.
The Right Reverend Justin Welby, in his last service as the Bishop of Durham, said that the outlook is bleak whether the country experiences a triple dip recession or not. He told a packed congregation that he thought we had moved on from the decade of the Great Depression, when unemployment in Britain reached 3.4 million, yet churches are organising food distribution centres as people cannot feed themselves.
Christians’ rights of conscience are being sacrificed on the altar of “obsessive political correctness” contrary to the values of a democratic society, two European human rights judges have claimed.
Migration is in fact “a striking phenomenon because of the sheer numbers of people involved, the social, economic, political, cultural and religious problems it raises, and the dramatic challenges it poses to nations and the international community”, for “every migrant is a human person who, as such, possesses fundamental, inalienable rights that must be respected by everyone and in every circumstance”
Illegal abortion on the grounds of gender may be taking place in Britain within immigrant communities, ministers have admitted for the first time after an official analysis of birth statistics. In 2010 there were 189,574 terminations in England and Wales, an eight per cent increase in the past decade.
The report said half the food bought in Europe and the US ended up in the bin. As much as half of the world's food, amounting to two billion tonnes worth, is wasted, a UK-based report has claimed. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers said the waste was being caused by poor storage, strict sell-by dates, bulk offers and consumer fussiness.
Benedict strongly appealed for an end to the bloodshed in Syria saying that the conflict will “know no victors but only vanquished if it continues.” He called on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to “commit themselves to peaceful coexistence within the framework of two sovereign states,” a solution which remained far from reality in 2012.
