– Tej Francis
HONG KONG
HONG KONG MASS HELD AFTER HONG KONG PROTEST TURNS VIOLENT
(Ucan news) A special Mass was held in Hong Kong after a day of protest turned violent and left two people in serious condition in hospital and at least 79 injured. About 5,000 riot police fired tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets at thousands of protesters yesterday as they cleared streets around the city’s Legislative Council. Confrontations continued late into the night as the mostly young protesters were pushed back from the complex in the protest over a controversial extradition bill.
Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing met with a group of young Catholics before a special Mass for Hong Kong at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church at 7 p.m. In a tearful homily, he said he had been moved by seeing the young people as he walked from the diocesan center to the church. “They just want to voice their demands. Why do they deserve that [violence]?” Bishop Ha asked. “I can’t understand why Hong Kong has become like this today. We just want to live freely. We don’t deserve it.”
Hong Kong Diocese released three statements to call for the government and the public to exercise restraint and seek a solution to the dilemma through peaceful, rational channels. It asked the faithful to pray for the city. The Colloquium of Six Religious Leaders of Hong Kong, which comprises representatives of the Catholic Church, Protestant Church, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam and Confucius, also released a statement calling on the government and the public to seek a solution in a restrained and peaceful manner. Bishop Ha said he would discuss the situation with Cardinal John Tong, the apostolic administrator of Hong Kong.
The Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong issued a Second Public Appeal as follows: “Regrettably the ‘Extradition Bill’ dispute has now come to a violent and bloodshed stage. Therefore, once more we make an urgent appeal that the SAR Government and the general public to exercise restraint and seek a solution to the current dilemma through peaceful, rational channels.”
AUGUSTA, MAINE
MAINE GOVERNOR SIGNS BILL LEGALIZING ASSISTED SUICIDE
(CNA) Maine became the latest state to legalize physician-assisted suicide Wednesday as Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed LD 1313 into law. Mills had previously said that she was undecided on the issue of physician-assisted suicide, and was unsure if she would sign the bill into law. Maine is now the ninth state to make it legal for a doctor to prescribe a terminally-ill patient a lethal dose of medication. Earlier this year, New Jersey legalized assisted suicide. Mills said to reporters June 12 that the decision to sign the bill into law was the hardest she had made in her political career, and that she hopes assisted suicide does not become the norm in her state.
“It is my hope that this law, while respecting the right to personal liberty, will be used sparingly,” she said prior to signing the bill. She added that she hopes Mainers “will respect the life of every citizen, with the utmost concern for their spiritual and physical well-being, and that as a society we will be as vigorous in providing full comfort, hospice and palliative care to all persons, no matter their status, location or financial ability as we are in respecting their right to make this ultimate decision over their own fate and of their own free will.”
To receive the life-ending medication, a patient must undergo two waiting periods, request the medication once in a written request and twice orally, undergo a psychological evaluation, and be approved by a second physician. The law also criminalizes coercing someone into assisted suicide, or forging a note requesting suicide. The law was narrowly passed by the state legislatures June 4, and sent to the governor’s mansion. Mills had 10 days from June 4 to decide whether or not she was going to sign the law. Members of both political parties voted for and against the bill, which was passed by a single vote in the state’s House of Representatives.
SRI LANKA
BOMBED SRI LANKAN SHRINE CELEBRATES ANNUAL FEAST
(Ucan news) St. Anthony’s Shrine has celebrated its first feast since being damaged in the Easter Sunday bombings that killed more than 250 people in Sri Lanka. The shrine in the Kochchikade area of the capital Colombo was consecrated and reopened to the public on June 12 and celebrated its 185th annual feast on June 13. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith held high Mass and said that religion cannot be used as an excuse for murder. “Don’t try to make this land the land of blood for the sake of your selfish motives,” he said during his sermon in front of ambassadors, politicians, navy officials, bishops, priests, nuns and laymen on June 13. “Somebody used these people for the attacks because they had a plan to capture our country or our culture.”
Cardinal Ranjith said that religion can never make people slaves but should guide people to follow the correct path. “Our Catholics stood for others in a disciplined manner. Our Catholics did not attack any Muslims after these attacks on churches. We protected Muslims. That is called religion. We ask St. Anthony to help us restore peace, unity and coexistence in the country. It is important to have trust and harmony.”
Nine suicide bombers launched simultaneous attacks on six targets including three churches on April 21, killing 253 people, nearly all Christians. They later claimed to be affiliated with the Islamic State terror group. The 185-year-old shrine dates back to the Dutch colonial era. Its statue of St. Anthony was brought from Goa in India in 1822. Construction of the shrine started in 1828 and it was consecrated on June 1, 1834.
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