CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Justice and peace: Iraq, stop to violence against Christians An appeal to the European Union, to politicians and to the opinion leaders of the Old Continent to take urgent action to put an end to the “horrid” persecution of Christians of Mosul, Iraq, was launched by Justice and Peace Europe, in a statement released on July 28. In the release the body conveyed its concern for the “terror” that ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) is exerting across Syria and Northern Iraq, occupying and governing “with several thousands of brutal combatants in an area approximately as large as Great Britain”. “In the light of the tragic developments in Northern Iraq – the document goes on – Justice and Peace Europe welcomes the European Parliament resolution of July 17; it calls upon EU leadership and European political leaders to take political measures in conjunction with the firm condemnation of the persecution of minorities in Mosul expressed by the UN Security Council on July 21”. Also Justice and Peace demands that “ISIS is declared a terroristic organization” and that “the supply of weapons to those groups and Countries that support it be banned”. Justice and Peace Europe, with headquarters in Brussels, urges European governments “to exert pressure on the Iraqi government to promote a government of national unity”, and it demands the international community “to grant generous humanitarian aids to all governments in the region that are dealing with huge numbers of refugees arriving from Syria and Iraq, notably Kurdistan, so as to mitigate human suffering”. The signatories of the appeal call upon Europe “to provide full support, solidarity to brutally persecuted Christians, helping them recover hope and overcome the present situation”. A few days ago a delegation of French Bishops undertook a solidarity visit to Iraq (until August 1) on the invitation of Chaldean bishop Louis-Raphaël Sako, to meet the Christian community and convey solidarity and vicinity of the French Church to the Iraqi population. Ukraine: Catholic University in Lviv grows larger A new multifunctional building will be inaugurated and consecrated on September 3 in Lviv near the campus of the Catholic university of Ukraine (UCU). It’s the second building compound that has been opened after the College of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj. “This event marks the beginning of celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Catholic University of Ukraine by patriarch Josyf Slipyj in 1963”, said bishop Borys Gudziak, UCU dean. For Bohdan Prakh, vice-dean, the new buildings will host various university departments that include the Humanistic Faculty, Lviv Business School (Lbs), and the Leadership and Management Institute. For Sophia Opatska, LBS director, the new compound will serve as a new area for dialogue and encounter. “It will be a hub of experiences, examples, programs. The point of convergence is an innovation key which Ukrainian society is presently lacking”. During the first stage of the works, due to last until 2015, other two buildings will start to be built, these are: the Church of Saint Sophia, the main church of the university with a pastoral centre a library and an info point. Ireland: Reek Sunday Pilgrimage on the Sacred Mount “In the past it would have been hard to imagine a world without God. But it’s now becoming a challenge to imagine a world with God”, said the archbishop of Tuam Michael Neary in his homily of July 26, during a Mass in Saint Mary’s church, on the occasion of the annual Reek Sunday Pilgrimage, for which the prelate celebrated Mass on the 27th on the peak of Croagh Patrick. “Our culture – Neary said -seeks to give a meaning to the world without referring to God. Living in a society marked by technological control and precision, we are led to believe all codes”. For the archbishop “it’s fundamental that every culture respects what is sacred for another group. In civil society, “whoever dishonours the faith in Israel, its image of God and its great figures must pay their dues. The same applies to those who insult the Koran and its beliefs in Islam”. But “there seems to be a double standard when it come to Jesus Christ and what is sacred to Christians. Freedom of expression has no limits”, he warned. “In our commendable effort to increase our understanding of the values of others have we lost the ability to sustain and respect our own?”
