Brian R Corbin's Reflections on Religion and Life

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November 23, 2007 • 11:43 pm 0

AIDS Caregivers: Despite Lower Numbers, Action Needed

AIDS Caregivers: Despite Lower Numbers, Action Needed
Groups Say Statistics a Sign of Hope — and a Challenge

ROME, NOV. 23, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Although statistics revised this week by the United Nations indicate there are fewer people living with HIV/AIDS than previously thought, care agencies say the numbers call for renewed action, not complacency.

Figures released by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization have lowered the estimated of the number of people living with HIV to 33.2 million, down from 39 million. These numbers were welcomed by Church workers who respond to HIV/AIDS around the world as a sign of hope and a challenge to keep promises.

The reduced figures are primarily due to improved data-gathering methodology and better information from many countries, particularly India. There are, however, some indications that better access to treatment and more intensive efforts at prevention have stabilized the spread of the disease in some countries.

“We welcome any indication that fewer people are living with HIV, whether it is through more accurate statistics or because a strong response in some areas is making a positive impact,” said Linda Hartke, coordinator of the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance.

“But in no way can we relax our efforts. HIV remains a devastating disease not just for individuals, but for families, communities and nations,” she added.

Monsignor Robert Vitillo, special adviser on HIV and AIDS at Caritas Internationalis, pointed out that the impact of AIDS far exceeds the statistics.

“The direct work of our Caritas member organizations and other Catholic organizations in care, counseling and support have always indicated that the impact of AIDS is far greater than the official figures have ever shown,” he explained.

“The response to AIDS is not just about treating a disease,” Monsignor Vitillo continued, “but treating all the factors in our society that continue to fuel the spread of the disease and inhibit our response, such as stigma and discrimination, violence and injustice against women, poverty, isolation, abuse. We see this in the faces all around us, and these numbers cannot be quantified.”

Filed under: Caritas

November 23, 2007 • 11:37 pm 0

Caritas Leader Sees a Threat in Latin America

Caritas Leader Sees a Threat in Latin America
Honduran Cardinal Sounds Warning About Underdevelopment

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 23, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Underdevelopment plaguing Latin America provokes tensions conspiring against peace, said the president of Caritas Internationalis.

Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga affirmed this Wednesday, the second day of work for the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, which focused on consideration of Paul VI’s “Populorum Progressio.”

The archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, said, “The objective of development is not just elevating all people to the level of the rich countries, but rather basing a more dignified life in the work of solidarity, a life in which the dignity and creativity of each person can effectively increase, as well as his capacity of responding to his own vocation, and therefore, to God’s call.”

The cardinal added, “The integral development of the human person is favored by the productivity and efficacy of work,” although a business should not be considered only “a society of capital” but “a society of persons.”

Given this, he explained, the Church’s social doctrine emphasizes the concept of social responsibility of a business, and places emphasis on the priority of the human person and the common good.

The archbishop of Tegucigalpa said that “just as there exists a collective responsibility to avoid war, there should also exist a collective responsibility to promote development.”

Echoing a theme of Paul VI, the cardinal said: “If development is a new name of peace, Latin American underdevelopment, with particular characteristics in each country, is a situation of injustice that promotes tensions conspiring against peace.”

“In the work of evangelization,” he concluded, “the practice of charity and the fight for justice should be considered a permanent model for the Church.”


Filed under: Caritas, Social Doctrine

November 23, 2007 • 2:44 pm 0

Caritas Feeding Hungry in Bangladesh

Caritas Feeding Hungry in Bangladesh

Disaster-Preparedness Program Helped Quick Response

DHAKA, Bangladesh, NOV. 22, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The international aid organization Caritas already distributed food to 120,000 people in the aftermath of Cyclone Sidr.

The cyclone, which hit a week ago, claimed the lives of at least 3,100 people. Rescuers fear that number could climb as high as 10,000, once more remote areas are reached. At least 1.2 million were left homeless.

The executive director of Caritas Bangladesh, Benedict Alo D’Rozario said, “During my visits to the affected areas of Bagerhat and Patuakhali districts, I have seen that the roofs of about 90% of the houses have been blown away. […] [t]he roofs of many schools have been blown away and children do not know where their books are.

“Roads are yet to be cleared for vehicles and transport connections are not fully restored yet. No ferry is available to cross the river at Kalapara. People are still under open sky and searching for their valuables from the debris. Many of them are desperately looking for or waiting for their loved ones to return as thousands of them are still missing.”

Caritas Bangladesh has long-term development and disaster preparedness programs in the worst-hit areas, which helped with the speed of the response.

After completing the first round of aid, Caritas will repeat food assistance to the same families.

Over $3.2 billion worth of crops have been destroyed resulting in the loss of food and income for millions of people. Caritas will be looking at the medium- to long-term impact after the initial phase of the relief effort has ended.

The Bangladesh government promised today to feed the more than 2 million people left destitute after the storm destroyed crops, saying it had promises of some $390 million in international aid.

Filed under: Caritas

November 23, 2007 • 2:43 pm 0

Benedict XVI to Sign 2nd Encyclical

Benedict XVI to Sign 2nd Encyclical

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 22, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI will sign his second encyclical, dedicated to the theme of hope, this Nov. 30, confirmed his secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

The cardinal confirmed the Pope’s plan today during the 4th world congress of the organizations dedicated to justice and peace, under way in Rome and focusing on the 40th anniversary of Paul VI’s “Populorum Progressio.”

Nov. 30 is the feast day of St. Andrew the Apostle. Normally, encyclicals and other papal documents are not published on the same day they are signed; rather, the texts are released to the public some time after the official signing date.

The Holy Father’s second encyclical is inspired by St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. His first encyclical, about charity, titled “Deus Caritas Est,” was released in 2006 .

Cardinal Bertone said over the summer that the Pope is also preparing an encyclical about social themes.

Filed under: Papal Teachings

November 22, 2007 • 4:05 pm 0

ENSURE THAT NO ONE WILL EVER BE HUNGRY AGAIN

ENSURE THAT NO ONE WILL EVER BE HUNGRY AGAIN

VATICAN CITY, NOV 22, 2007 (VIS) – At midday today, the Pope received participants in the 34th general conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which has its headquarters in Rome.

In his English-language talk to the delegates, the Pope indicated that “all forms of discrimination, and particularly those that thwart agricultural development, must be rejected since they constitute a violation of the basic right of every person to be ‘free from hunger.’ These convictions are in fact demanded by the very nature of your work on behalf of the common good of humanity.”

Benedict XVI highlighted the paradox of “the relentless spread of poverty in a world that is also experiencing unprecedented prosperity, not only in the economic sphere but also in the rapidly developing fields of science and technology.”

Such obstacles as “armed conflicts, outbreaks of disease, adverse atmospheric and environmental conditions and the massive forced displacement of peoples,” said the Pope, “should serve as a motivation to redouble our efforts to provide each person with his or her daily bread.

“For her part, the Church is convinced that the quest for more effective technical solutions in an ever-changing and expanding world calls for far-sighted programs embodying enduring values grounded in the inalienable dignity and rights of the human person,” he added.

“The united effort of the international community to eliminate malnutrition and promote genuine development necessarily calls for clear structures of management and supervision, and a realistic assessment of the resources needed to address a wide range of different situations. It requires the contribution of every member of society – individuals, volunteer organizations, businesses, and local and national governments – always with due regard for those ethical and moral principles which are the common patrimony of all people and the foundation of all social life.”

Benedict XVI continued his talk by saying that “today more than ever, the human family needs to find the tools and strategies capable of overcoming the conflicts caused by social differences, ethnic rivalries, and the gross disparity in levels of economic development.”

“Religion, as a potent spiritual force for healing the wounds of conflict and division, has its own distinctive contribution to make in this regard, especially through the work of forming minds and hearts in accordance with a vision of the human person.”

“Technical progress, important as it is, is not everything,” the Pope told the FAO delegates. “Progress must be placed within the wider context of the integral good of the human person. It must constantly draw nourishment from the common patrimony of values which can inspire concrete initiatives aimed at a more equitable distribution of spiritual and material goods.”

“This principle,” he explained, “has a special application to the world of agriculture, in which the work of those who are often considered the ‘lowliest’ members of society should be duly acknowledged and esteemed.”

In conclusion the Holy Father recalled how “FAO’s outstanding activity on behalf of development and food security clearly points to the correlation between the spread of poverty and the denial of basic human rights, beginning with the fundamental right to adequate nutrition. Peace, prosperity, and respect for human rights are inseparably linked. The time has come to ensure, for the sake of peace, that no man, woman and child will ever be hungry again!”

AC/HUNGER/FAO VIS 071122 (570)

Filed under: Social Doctrine, Social Justice

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