– Tej Francis
VATICAN CITY
POPE FRANCIS PRAYS FOR JAPAN AMID DEADLY FLOODING
(CNA/EWTN News) Pope Francis sent his prayers and condolences to Japan Monday following the death of at least 119 people in some of the worst flooding and landslides the country has seen in decades. Heavy rains and flooding began July 5, and have primarily affected the Hiroshima prefecture.
A July 9 telegram expressed Pope Francis’ solidarity with those affected by the tragedy and noted his prayers, “especially for the repose of the deceased, the healing of those injured and the consolation of all those who grieve.” Sent on behalf of the pope by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the letter said Francis is “deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and of the injury” caused by the floods.
The pope also invoked “abundant blessings,” and offered his encouragement to everyone assisting victims of the disaster and the civil authorities and those involved in efforts to uncover the nearly 80 people estimated to still be missing. In the midst of their rainy season, record-breaking rainfalls in western Japan have resulted in massive flooding and landslides, killing hundreds and displacing thousands from their homes.
According to the BBC, as of Sunday around 3 million people had been advised to leave their homes and about 1.5 million ordered to do so. The Hiroshima area was the hardest hit, though 11 prefectures have been badly affected. It is considered the worst flooding disaster the country has been since 1983.
ACCRA, GHANA
CARDINAL SHARES MESSAGE OF ‘LAUDATO SI” AT GHANA WORLD YOUTH DAY EVENT
(National Catholic Reporter) A top Vatican official urged young people at a local World Youth Day gathering to protect the planet and actively live the teachings of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment. Expressing concern for the accelerating degradation of Earth, Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, told 3,000 Ghanaians Aug. 5 to learn, know and spread the message of the 2015 papal teaching.
Emphasizing that Earth is like a mother to humans, Turkson called for deeper respect and more concrete steps to protect the planet during the event’s closing ceremony. He also appealed for greater attention to the needs of poor and disadvantaged people.
The cardinal also addressed the importance of the need to change lifestyles to reduce environmental abuse. He noted that Pope Francis acknowledges that environmental awareness is growing as the world better understands the impact of the damage being done to Earth and all life on the planet.
The pope, he said, remains hopeful about the possibility of reversing the trend of environmental abuse as people adopt the encyclical’s teachings. The cardinal explained to the young Ghanaians that the full title of the encyclical, “Laudato Si’, On Care for Our Common Home,” was inspired by the invocation of St. Francis of Assisi, “Praise be to you my Lord,” in his Canticle of the Creatures.
Climate change, he said, is a growing concern because it affects everyone and that the well-being of future generations is at stake. To save the earth and environment from destruction, he called for an end to the felling of trees at current rates. He also advocated for the reintroduction of the Arbor Day celebration in Ghana and elsewhere to encourage the planting of trees.
BRASILIA, BRAZIL
BRAZILIAN CHURCH BELLS RING AS COURT CONSIDERS DECRIMINALIZING ABORTION
(ACI Prensa) Catholic churches throughout Brazil rang their bells at 3 p.m. Thursday to sound a warning regarding the possible decriminalization of abortion in the country. The Aug. 2 initiative took place on the eve of a Supreme Federal Court hearing which was to consider the constitutionality of Brazil’s current law governing abortion. Abortion is permitted only in cases of rape, risk to the mother’s life, or if the fetus has anencephaly.
A suit was brought by the Socialism and Liberty Party, an opposition party which has six members in the Chamber of Deputies. The hearing could allow for the legalization of elective abortion up to 12 weeks of gestation. Debora Diniz, a law professor at the University of Brasilia and a pro-choice who testified before the court, received death threats in June, Reuters has reported. The court has not set a date for its decision.
At a bell-ringing at the foot of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Cardinal Orani Tempesta said that “we want to call to the attention of all of society the importance of life. Just as this fog is over Rio de Janeiro, today, we know that a threat always exists: the ‘culture of death’ which covers our country and all of humanity.”
He also expressed his desire that throughout Brazil the bells would “call attention to this important moment in our history with the aim of guaranteeing the inviolability of the right to life, set in stone in the constitution, changes or repeals resulting in the loss of fundamental rights therefore not being possible.”
Prior to the hearings, a number of bishops spoke out against the legalization of abortion, denouncing judicial activism in support of this procedure and exhorting citizens to speak out in defense of life. Archbishop Washington Cruz of Goiania, together with his auxiliaries and the Union of Catholic Jurists of Goiania, denounced the judicial activism which seeks to legalize abortion in Brazil after it could not pass the legislature.
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