Charity does not go on holiday” “

The Spanish Church’s solidarity towards the needy did not go on holiday during the summer. Along with the ongoing initiatives to support indigent families and individuals across the Country, major efforts are being put into countering the epidemics of Ebola in Africa and providing support to the outcast in Pakistan. The Church equally denounced the difficulties experienced by persecuted Christians in Iraq and in other world countries with an appeal not to remain indifferent. Commitment against Ebola. The steering committee of Caritas Spain has recently allocated a 50 thousand euro grant in response to the appeal of Caritas Sierra Leone, conveyed via Caritas Internationalis. The purpose is to end the transmission of Ebola in nine districts where the disease is already present and in those at risk through systematic control of community centres. Moreover, the project envisages direct training on the disease to 34 thousand people in terms of transmission, hygiene, prevention and containment; 28 thousand people (3,600 families) will receive sanitary equipment. A total of 62 thousand people will directly benefit from the project, 180 thousand indirectly. Father Peter Konteh who lives in Sierra Leone, has been actively providing his services with Manos Unidas for the past ten years. He is now in the front line of the fight against Ebola. “We teach people to reduce contagion risks”, he explained. “Our staff – the religious went on – is working hard, in difficult conditions. It is necessary to develop targeted strategies aimed at educating the population for the prevention of Ebola”. The negative effects of the disease include increasing numbers of orphan children and families fallen in a state of poverty after the death of their working spouses. Father Konteh and his team of volunteers are direly committed to address this and other situations. “Ebola is the new war that broke out in Sierra Leone. We must join efforts and create synergies to win this battle”. Manos Unidas is studying various requests of help to address situations of emergency in Countries hit by the epidemics. For 200 women in Bangladesh. The diocesan Caritas of Cádiz y Ceuta participated in the vocational training course for 200 artisan women. The course is part of a cooperation project promoted with Caritas Bangladesh, via Caritas Spain. The purpose of the initiative is the development of the technical skills of women taking part in the course, thereby enhancing their working skills in the production of handmade jute and cotton bags as well as palm-leaves baskets. The project finances vocational training and provides funding for the purchase of industrial machinery for the improvement of production capacity. Against persecutions in Iraq. The permanent Commission of the Forum for the Laity in Spain released a communiqué denouncing the persecution of Catholics in Iraq on religious grounds. Quoting the Pope’s words in South Korea on “the importance, dignity and beauty of the vocation of the laity”, the Forum wrote: “We cannot remain silent before devastating persecutions carried out in the name of Christ that are causing the suffering of our brothers and sisters in faith”. “We hereby denounce this persecution to the world, that is all the more tragic as it is carried out in the name of a religion – states the release.- We offer our vicinity, solidarity and prayers to our brothers who are suffering and are forced to abandon their homeland to avoid being massacred”. The statement goes on: “We condemn the murders and the crimes that are being perpetrated. It is a serious offense to God, to the human person and to our conscience as lay Christians”. The Forum called upon “the international community, European bodies and Western governments to adopt efficient measures to put an end to this persecution. We join the appeal of the Vatican Observer to the UN Monsignor Silvano Tomasi: ‘We must act before it’s too late”. The Forum calls upon Catholics in Spain “not to remain indifferent before this persecution. We must not forget that often silence is the greatest accomplice of inequalities”. After having implored “the Most Holy Virgin, Queen of the martyrs and of peace, to obtain from the Divine Son the grace of perseverance for Catholics in Iraq, that it may touch the hearts and convert their persecutors”, the Forum pointed out: “Summer vacations are not an excuse to remain silent. Pope Francis has said it in clear words. May we all follow his example”.