US Nuns Urge Changes to Church Structure to Address Abuse

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - The main umbrella organization of religious sisters in the United States is calling for an overhaul of the male-led leadership structure of the Catholic Church, after Pope Francis acknowledged the problem of priests and bishops sexually abusing nuns.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious also called Thursday for the creation of reporting mechanisms that ensure sisters who have been abused "are met with compassion and are offered safety."

The conference represents about 80 percent of Catholic sisters in the U.S. Its statement came after Francis acknowledged Tuesday that abuse of nuns was a problem and said the Vatican is working on it but more needs to be done.

The LCWR said current authority structures need to be changed "if the church is to regain its moral credibility and have a viable future." (VOA)

UAE Gives Pope Pomp-Filled Welcome Ceremony At Visit's Start

ABU DHABI, LELEMUKU.COM - Pope Francis opened his historic visit to the United Arab Emirates on Monday with a grandiose, pomp-filled welcome ceremony before he was to address faith leaders in a show of religious tolerance in a Muslim region known for its restrictions on religious freedom.

Francis arrived at the Abu Dhabi presidential palace in a simple Kia hatchback, but was greeted with an artillery salute and military flyover by a country now at war.

Even for a nation known for its excesses, the Emiratis' red-carpet welcome was remarkable for a pope who prides himself on simplicity. It featured horse-mounted guards escorting the pontiff's motorcade through the palace gardens while the flyover trailed the yellow and white smoke of the Holy See flag as cannons boomed.

Francis stood somberly between Abu Dhabi's powerful crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the Emirati vice president and prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, as the Vatican and Emirati anthems played and delegations were introduced.

Francis' speech to the gathering of faith leaders later in the evening is the highlight of his brief, 40-hour visit to Abu Dhabi, the first to the Arabian Peninsula by a pope. His trip culminates on Tuesday with the first-ever papal Mass on the Arabian Peninsula - a gathering expected to draw some 135,000 faithful in a never-before-seen display of public Christian worship here.

Francis arrived in the Emirati capital late on Sunday, hours after making an appeal from the Vatican for urgent observation of a limited cease-fire in war-torn Yemen so that food and medicine can get to its people, who are suffering the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The Emirates has been Saudi Arabia's main ally in the war in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is fighting the country's Houthi rebels, and Francis' pre-trip appeal was a way for him to avoid embarrassing his hosts with a public denunciation of the humanitarian costs of the war while in the region.

"The cries of these children and their parents rise up'' to God, he said at the Vatican before heading to Rome's airport for his flight.

In a sign that regional politics was playing a not-insignificant role in Francis' visit, the papal plane flew north of Qatar and around the peninsular, energy-rich nation on his flight Sunday.

Four Arab nations - Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - have been boycotting Qatar since June 2017 as part of a regional political dispute. Tensions are still high between the nations, especially after Qatar's win at the Emirates-hosted Asian Cup soccer tournament this past week.

By avoiding Qatari airspace, Francis omitted sending a telegram of greetings to the country's ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, as he would do when flying through the airspace of countries. He sent one when passing by the island nation of Bahrain. (VOA)

Pope Travels to UAE in Support of Tolerance, Interfaith Dialogue

VATICAN, LELEMUKU.COM - Pope Francis is seeking to turn a page in Christian-Muslim relations while also ministering to a unique, thriving island of Catholicism as he embarks on the first-ever papal trip to the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam.

While Francis is building on two of his priorities with his Sunday-Tuesday visit to the United Arab Emirates — promoting interfaith dialogue and visiting the Catholic peripheries — diplomatic protocol will likely dictate that he leaves other concerns behind.

The Emirates’ support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, which has caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and the UAE’s problematic record on human rights and labor violations at home will likely will get a pass, at least in public.

Interreligious dialogue

Francis is traveling to Abu Dhabi to participate in a conference on interreligious dialogue sponsored by the Emirates-based Muslim Council of Elders, an initiative that seeks to counter religious fanaticism by promoting a moderate brand of Islam. It’s the brainchild of Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar, the revered 1,000-year-old seat of Sunni Islam learning that trains clerics and scholars from around the world.

It will be the fifth meeting between Francis and el-Tayeb, evidence that Al-Azhar’s freeze in relations with the Holy See sparked by Pope Benedict XVI’s 2006 comments linking Islam to violence has thoroughly thawed.

In a video message to the Emirates on the eve of his trip, Francis paid homage to his “friend and dear brother’’el-Tayeb and praised his courage in calling the meeting to assert that “God unites and doesn’t divide.’’

“I am pleased with this meeting offered by the Lord to write, on your dear land, a new page in the history of relations among religions and confirm that we are brothers despite our differences,’’ Francis said.

In a statement Saturday, Al-Azhar described the upcoming meeting as “historic’’ and praised the “deeply fraternal relationship’’ between its imam and the pope, which it said even includes birthday greetings.

Openness to other faiths
Francis and el-Tayeb are to address the “Human Fraternity Meeting’’ Monday that has drawn not only Christian and Muslim representatives but hundreds of Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and other Christian faith leaders. It’s all part of the Emirates’ “Year of Tolerance’’ and its effort to show its openness to other faiths in a region otherwise known for severe restrictions on religions outside of Islam.

“It’s something new for the Muslim world, that within the discussion of dialogue, they’re talking about interreligious dialogue across the board,’’ beyond basic Christian-Muslim relations, said Marco Impagliazzo, president of the Sant’Egidio Community, a Rome-based Catholic organization active in interfaith relations who will be attending the conference.

Mass for thousands

Francis’ other main initiative in Abu Dhabi is a giant Mass on Tuesday in the city’s main sports arena that is expected to draw some 135,000 people in what some have called the largest show of public Christian worship on the Arabian Peninsula. There, Francis will see firsthand a Catholic community that is big, diverse and dynamic, at a time when the wider Mideast has seen an exodus of Christians fleeing persecution at the hands of the Islamic State group and others.

Of the more than 9 million people now living in the UAE, around 1 million are Emirati while the rest are foreigners drawn to the oil-rich federation to work in everything from white-collar finance to construction.

The Catholic Church believes there are about 1 million Catholics in the UAE. Most are Filipino and Indian, many of whom have left behind families for work and can face precarious labor conditions, which human rights groups regularly denounce.

“The church has a unique role because it becomes home,’’ said Brandon Vaidyanathan, chair of the sociology department at Catholic University in Washington, who grew up in Dubai. “It becomes a place of belonging’’ in a country where foreigners can live, work and practice their faith but will never gain citizenship.

Vaidyanathan, who converted from Hinduism to Catholicism while living in Dubai, said the Emirates’ religious tolerance is commendable given the trends of the region. He noted the “unprecedented” nature of the government’s invitation to Francis, its donation of lands for churches and even a recent decision to rename a mosque “Mother Mary of Jesus.’’

Religious freedom vs. freedom to worship

Yet he pointed to the difference between freedom to worship and true religious freedom. Crosses, for example, can only be displayed inside churches, proselytizing for faiths other than Islam is banned and Muslims are forbidden from converting.

Francis will likely focus on issues of religious freedom and fraternity in his public remarks. Unlike all his other foreign trips, he will not deliver a political speech.

Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said the reason was to give greater emphasis to his speech to the interfaith conference. He dodged a question about whether Francis would raise Yemen’s yearslong war in his private talks with the sheikh. The UAE is deeply involved in the Saudi-led war in the Arab world’s poorest country, where tens of thousands have been killed and millions face food and medical shortages.

“I don’t know if the Holy Father will confront it publicly or privately, but certainly on many occasions, even recently, he has underlined the need to search for peace in particular to guarantee the humanitarian rights of the population, especially children,’’ Gisotti said.

Aid groups working in Yemen hope Francis won’t just rely on his past appeals, but will use his visit to bring his message to the Emirati leadership. (VOA)

Pope Brings World Youth Day to Panama’s Detained Youths

VATICAN, LELEMUKU.COM - Pope Francis is bringing World Youth Day to Panama’s juvenile delinquents who can’t participate in the Catholic Church’s big festival of faith.

On Friday Francis will celebrate a special penitential Mass inside the Las Garzas de Pacora detention center, which is Panama’s main youth lockup. In a twist, he will also hear the inmates’ confessions inside confessionals the detainees made themselves.

It’s all part of Francis’ belief that prisoners deserve the same dignity as everyone else, as well as hope.

World Youth Day opens

Francis opened his first full day in Panama with that message of hope Thursday, formally welcoming tens of thousands of pilgrims to World Youth Day at a twilight pep rally at the capital’s seaside park.

He urged them to be builders of bridges of encounter, not “builders of walls that sow fear and look to divide and box people in,” a clear reference to the proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall.

Plea to public officials

Earlier in the day, in remarks to President Juan Carlos Varela, he warned that those same young people are increasingly demanding that public officials live honest lives that are coherent with the jobs entrusted to them.

“They call upon them to live in simplicity and transparency, with a clear sense of responsibility for others and for our world,” Francis told Varela and other Panamanian leaders. “To lead a life that demonstrates that public service is a synonym of honesty and justice, and opposed to all forms of corruption.”

Transparency International estimates that as much as 1 percent of Panama’s GDP, about U.S. $600 million, may have been lost to various corruption schemes during the presidency of Ricardo Martinelli, who governed Panama from 2009 to 2014. Martinelli was extradited to Panama last year from the United States to face political espionage and embezzlement charges.

In addition, two of Martinelli’s sons have been detained in the U.S. and are being sought on corruption charges in Panama. They are suspected of receiving more than $50 million in “undue payments” from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which is at the center of one of the largest graft scandals in history.

Odebrecht has acknowledged paying nearly $800 million dollars in bribes in a dozen Latin American nations in return for favors and works contracts.

That includes at least $59 million in Panama, although authorities say the real figure is likely much higher. In addition to the Martinelli sons, the scandal has implicated former government ministers under the elder Martinelli as well as people linked to the party of the current president, Varela.

The Martinelli family has denied involvement by the sons in the bribery scandal and alleges persecution by political foes. The former president also denies any wrongdoing and says he is being targeted politically. (VOA)

Pope Francis Rolls Out Prayer App for Youth, Click to Pray

VATICAN, LELEMUKU.COM - As the pope prepares to meet tens of thousands of young people from across the globe for World Youth Day this week, he attempted to connect with them on a platform they would easily understand: the internet.

During the weekly Angelus prayer at the Vatican Sunday, Pope Francis launched his own user profile on Click to Pray, the official app of the Vatican's Worldwide Prayer Network.

"Internet and the social networks are a resource of our time, a way to stay in touch with others, to share values and projects, and to express the desire to form a community," the pope told those gathered in St. Peter's Square.

With the help of an aide holding a tablet, the pope swiped the screen saying, "Here, I will put in ... requests for prayers for the Church's mission."

For example, he said, the app will let young people join him in prayer for the "two sorrows" in his heart this week: the 170 migrants who drowned in recent days in the Mediterranean Sea and the victims of a terrorist attack in Colombia this week that killed 21 people.

"I especially invite young people to download the Click To Pray app, continuing to pray with me the Rosary for peace, especially during the World Youth Day in Panama," the pontiff said.

He also asked all Catholics to pray for the youth event, which takes place Jan. 22-27.

World Youth Day was started by Pope John Paul II in 1985. It is held in different cities around the world every two to three years. This will be Francis' third World Youth Day. (VOA)

Pope Urge To Forgo Greed and Gluttony of Christmas for Simple Love

VATICAN, LELEMUKU.COM - Pope Francis urged Christians on Monday to forgo the greed, gluttony and materialism of Christmas and to focus instead on its message of simplicity, charity and love.

Francis celebrated a Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, opening a busy week for the pope that includes a Christmas Day message and blessing, a Dec. 26 prayer, New Year’s Eve vespers and a Jan. 1 Mass.

During his homily Monday, Francis lamented that many people find their life’s meaning in possessions when the biblical story of Christ’s birth emphasizes that God appeared to people who were poor when it came to earthly possessions, but faithful.

“Standing before the manger, we understand that the food of life is not material riches but love, not gluttony but charity, not ostentation but simplicity,” Francis said, dressed in simple white vestments.

“An insatiable greed marks all human history, even today, when paradoxically a few dine luxuriantly while all too many go without the daily bread needed to survive,” he said.

Francis has focused on the world’s poor and downtrodden, its refugees and marginalized, during his five-year papacy. The Catholic Church’s first pope from Latin American instructed the Vatican to better care for the homeless around Rome, opening a barber shop, shower and medical clinic for them in the embracing colonnade of St. Peter’s Square.

To extend his outreach this Christmas, Francis sent his trusted secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to Iraq to celebrate with the country’s long-suffering Christians.

Catholics are among the religious minorities targeted for Islamic State-inspired violence that has driven tens of thousands from their homes.

Parolin met Monday in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi. He is scheduled in the coming days to travel to northern Iraq to meet with Kurdish leaders in Irbil and to celebrate Mass in Qaraqosh in the Nineveh plains, near Mosul, according to the Vatican.

The Vatican has for years expressed concern about the exodus of Christians from communities that have existed since the time of Jesus, and urged them to return when security conditions permit.

Francis is likely to refer to the plight of Christians in Iraq and Syria during his Christmas Day “Urbi et Orbi” (To the city and the world) speech. He is scheduled to deliver it Tuesday from the loggia of St. Peter’s and again at Mass on New Year’s Day, which the church marks as its world day for peace. (VOA)