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Latest NEWSBRIEF from the USG-USIG JPIC Commission March 6th, 2014
The Commission for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation USG/UISG Secretariat has issued their Newsbrief for February 2014. The newsletter is available in English. The Spanish version will be forthcoming.
Useful resources are given for Lent and other occasions, including World Water Day, coming up on March 22nd. (Download PDF)
Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leads High Profile Group to Geneva on Sri Lanka March 6th, 2014
Archbishop Tutu (picture: Wikimedia Commons)
Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and other human rights campaigners have urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to commit to an independent international investigation in the form of a Commission of Inquiry into human rights violations in Sri Lanka.
The following is the text of their statement:
We, concerned individuals and organisations from around the world, urge the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to use their March 2014 session to pass a resolution that will include a commitment to an Independent International investigation in the form of a Commission of Inquiry. Only this will help to put the country on the path to justice and reconciliation.
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Mannar Bishop and Over Two Hundred Tamil Catholic Priests and Sisters Call For International Investigation of Sri Lanka Human Rights Abuses March 4th, 2014
“…we are concerned about the post war intensification of systematic efforts to destroy the identity of the Tamil community.”
The bombing of the safe zone, March 4, 2009. Some 40,000 Tamils were killed in the final stages of the war.
Two hundred and five Tamil Catholic Priests and Sisters from the North and East of Sri Lanka, including the Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph, Bishop of Mannar and many Oblates, have written to the members of the UN Human Rights Council calling for an international investigation into Sri Lanka’s war crimes and human rights violations. The religious have called for the adoption of a strong and action-oriented resolution on Sri Lanka at the 25th session of the UN Human Rights Council. That session opened this week in Geneva.
Below is the statement in full:
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Oblate Auxiliary Bishop in Crimea Calls for Peace March 4th, 2014
The following is an official statement from Bishop Jacek Pyl, omi, the auxiliary bishop of Odessa-Sinferopol of the Crimea region of Ukraine. Let us pray for peace!
STATEMENT OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP IN CRIMEA
Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Odesa-Simferopol, Bishop Jacek Pyl, OMI
Since many weeks now the Roman Catholic Church with her prayers accompany whole of Ukraine praying for the peaceful solution of the problems, which the country is struggling with. In our prayers we ask God for his mercy for all Ukrainian people and we also offer voluntary fasting on bread and water in the same intention. Today when the unrest has encompassed the Crimean territory we want to pray especially for our peninsula. With our prayer we reach out to all the people without concern for their religion, political views or ethnic background. We pray that the people, who for tens of years live in peace – do not start fighting today and that the bloodshed of the kind we have seen in Kiev Maidan may be avoided here.
I am calling on all the people both faithful and the others that in the name of the solidarity with the heritage of our Fathers, who cared for the development of our Autonomous Republic of Crimea, to stay away from extremisms and in this hard time do not let the brotherhood among Crimean people to be broken. In ARoC we have Ukrainians, Russians, Crimean Tartars, Armenians, Poles, Germans, Czechs and many others living peacefully together. For many centuries we had the Orthodox, Muslims, Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Caraims, people of other denominations together with atheists living in Crimea. We cannot let our ethnical background nor our religion to divide us now. We are children of the same God; the only God, who is our common Father. The motto of the Republic of Crimea which is inscribed into our coat of arms is „Процветание в единстве” (Blooming in unity) and may this words be our motto for the difficult time now.
I would like to reach out with my words to the faithful of all denominations that they keep praying for peace, and those who has decided so keep voluntarily fasting. May the Good God free our hearts from all evil temptations and may he bless our good intentions.
+ Jacek Pyl, OMI Auxiliary Bishop of Odessa-Simferopol Diocese
We would like to thank Fr. Warren Brown, OMI and Fr. Charles Hurkes, OMI for sharing this information with the JPIC Office.
Sign up for the Oblate Earth Literacy program: “Exploring the Sacred Universe” January 24th, 2014
Daily, all of us, members of the Earth community, are reminded that we live on a rare, precious, threatened planet. At the same time we realize that at its root, ecological devastation is a spiritual issue. Our weeklong “Exploring the Sacred Universe” program addresses our current situation in a spiritual context. Past participants consider the program to have been a transformative learning experience, as they were invited to broaden their vision and include our numinous Universe in all aspects of life.
The dates for the 2014 Earth Literacy Program are August 3-10. Information is available here, or on the La Vista website.
Interested in learning more about a different perspective now? Watch “The Known Universe”, a marvelous video from the American Museum of Natural History in New York. It will help you experience the awesome scale of the known universe, as mapped through astronomical observations. In the video, you start at the Himalayas, move through Earth’s atmosphere and the black of space to the afterglow of the Big Bang.
