Another great papal tweet on marriage today: The most powerful witness to marriage is the exemplary lives of Christian spouses.
The official Jubilee of Mercy site today published the calendar of events for this special year called by Pope Francis that will start December 8, 2015. Click here to see events so that you can plan your pilgrimage to Rome – and don’t forget to explore the other parts of this site: http://www.im.va/content/gdm/en/calendario.html
If by chance you will be flying into Rome in a day or two – or perhaps even next week – you should know that Rome’s Fiumicino Airport is in the throes of yet another crisis as a blackout that lasted about 20 minutes Thursday struck the main terminal. The good news is that the outage did not affect the air-traffic control towers so flights were able to land and takeoff, officials told ANSA news agency. The power outage lasted about 20 minutes but control towers have a particular system supported by the ENAV civil aviation authority that allowed operations to continue, officials added.
ANSA said the cause of the power outage, reported shortly before noon, was not immediately known. This marked the latest crisis at the airport, which was forced to temporarily close its runways on Wednesday by smoke blown in from pine-forest fires nearby. Delays and disruptions because of the smoke-blocked runways continued Thursday morning, with delays of up to three hours for some domestic and European flights.
And all this on top of damages caused by a fire in Terminal 3 in early May that has caused major disruptions since then.
PLANNED PARENTHOOD VIDEOS, ABORTION AND THE THROWAWAY CULTURE
Cardinal Seán O’Malley, OFM Cap., archbishop of Boston and chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), responded on Wednesday to recent videos showing leaders from Planned Parenthood discussing the provision of fetal organs, tissues, and body parts from their abortion clinics.
Below is the full text of Cardinal O’Malley’s statement:
Pope Francis has called abortion the product of a “widespread mentality of profit, the throwaway culture, which has today enslaved the hearts and minds of so many.” The recent news stories concerning Planned Parenthood direct our attention to two larger issues involving many institutions in our society. The first is abortion itself: a direct attack on human life in its most vulnerable condition. The second is the now standard practice of obtaining fetal organs and tissues through abortion. Both actions fail to respect the humanity and dignity of human life. This fact should be the center of attention in the present public controversy.
If the Planned Parenthood news coverage has caused anyone to experience revived trauma from their own involvement in abortion, be assured that any and all persons will be welcomed with compassion and assistance through the Church’s post-abortion healing ministry, Project Rachel. If you or someone you know would like confidential, nonjudgmental help, please visit www.projectrachel.com. (Source: USCCB)
VATICAN PAPER ON ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW IN UAE: A COURAGEOUS DECISION
In an article entitled, “Courageous decision,” L’Osservatore Romano highlighted the anti-discrimination law recently enacted in the United Arab Emirates that advances religious liberty.
“Under the new law, ‘all forms of discrimination based on religion, caste, creed, doctrine, race, colour or ethnic origin’ are outlawed. This means that in the UAE, discrimination based on Islam is banned. The Sunni-Shia divide has been a fault-line around which many wars have been fought in the Arab world. With the new law, equality will be guaranteed among people, largely inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This is a step forward.”
The above statement was made by the noted Islamic scholar. Jesuit Fr. Samir Khalil Samir, who spoke to AsiaNews about the new law against discrimination recently passed in the United Arab Emirates.
Fr. Samir explained that this act goes against the current, especially in comparison to other countries in the region, which are locked in Islamic totalitarianism. There are 24 churches in the region, which were built by the people themselves. Christians are treated with respect and it is not uncommon to see believers living in Saudi Arabia move to Abu Dhabi to celebrate Christmas or Easter.
“It is important to note,” Fr Samir continues, “that another positive element is the fact that the law’s anti-discrimination provisions will also cover written communication, broadcasting (TV) and social medial. UAE leaders are well aware of the ubiquitous presence of such media; hence, they have decided to deem ‘a criminal act’ all forms of discrimination in them or hate spread by them. With the new law, calling someone else ‘infidels’ (takfir) is punishable. Why? Because under Islamic law, someone who is an ‘infidel’ or an ‘unbeliever’ (kafir) could be put to death.
“Although the same law prohibits the killing of Christians and Jews because they are ‘dhimmi,’ or protected, “ continues Fr. Samir, “this does not apply to pagans, atheists or members of other religions. Under Islamic rule, infidels enjoy no protection. He or she can either convert to Islam or be killed. The Islamic State group has used this principle, and used it to kill Christians (even if it is against Islamic law).”.
Another new step, the Jesuit explains, is the fact that provoking religious hatred is also banned. “In the past, hate crimes were not banned under the law. Now this is the case, and this is something of a daring step to take. And we in the West might have a thing or two to learn. Consider all the contempt people have for migrants in Europe, or blacks in the United States. In your countries, hate is mostly racial in nature. In our region, in the Middle East, hate is always about religion.” The law also“outlaws support for violent foreign groups, especially by making monetary donations.”
Joan's Rome 