Clerical abuse victims 'will protest year after year' - News - Bearsden Herald
Clerical sex abuse survivors are going to mount "bigger and bigger" protests every year in Rome in an effort to keep raising the issue with the Catholic Church, a Warwickshire woman has pledged.
Sue Cox, 63, from Gaydon, who spoke during a meeting near the Vatican at the weekend about her rape ordeal as a 13-year-old at the hands of a priest, said she would return "year after year" with other abuse survivors.
She was among around 100 survivors from a dozen countries, including Italy, the US, Ireland, Holland and Australia, at a candlelit protest on Sunday in Rome.
The protest included around 55 Italians from a Catholic institute for the deaf in Verona where dozens of students said they were raped by priests.
The acupuncturist later met Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi accompanied by protest organisers and US clerical abuse survivors Bernie McDaid and Gary Bergeron.
Mrs Cox, a member of the National Secular Society, accused Fr Lombardi of "PR spin" after the meeting and failing to confront the damage and destruction wreaked by paedophile priests.
"He sat there completely disinterested in anything we had to say. It was spin, there was no dialogue and no conversation," she said.
Christian girls targeted for violence in Pakistan - Catholic Sentinel - Portland, OR
The Christian community in Pakistan is shocked at increasing violence and abuse targeted at young Christian girls.
Two Christian girls were abducted, raped and murdered by a group of Muslims. A 13 year old became pregnant after being raped by a young Muslim.
Violent abuse is “part of daily life” in Pakistan and growing in number against Christian and Hindu girls, said Fides, a Vatican missionary agency. Christians are targeted because they are considered on a lower social level, and often abductions of young girls involve intent to force marriage and religious conversion or to trap them into prostitution rings.
The latest tragic abuse is part of a larger phenomenon of violence against women in Pakistan, which often meets with indifference and impunity, Fides said.
There were 1,198 kidnappings, 352 rapes and 1,052 murders of women in 2009 alone.
Christian leaders express outrage after deaths at Baghdad cathedral | USCatholic.org
Deaths at Baghdad cathedral was a false flag event to bring about complete disarmament and stricter religious hate crime laws.
see: Holy See Demands an End to Discrimination against Christians (Holy See Mission) http://www.holyseemission.org/1Nov2010.html
Holy See Demands an End to Discrimination against Christians (Holy See Mission)
The exercise of responsible sovereignty requires that the State fulfill its primary duty to protect its own populations and, where a State proves unable or unwilling to meet this responsibility, the international community has the duty to use the juridical means necessary to protect those citizens from grave and sustained violations of human rights.
The concept of the defamation of religions seeks to address instances of incitement to religious violence, religious or ethnic profiling, negative stereotyping of religion and attacks on sacred books, religious sites and figures. However, as the Special Rapporteur notes, this concept does not adequately address these abuses of human rights and international law, but instead gives rise to instances where States have used the concept of the defamation of religions as a justification for laws which prohibit the freedom of religion and interreligious dialogue, and restrict the freedom of expression. While my delegation supports all efforts to protect believers from unjust hate speech and incitement to violence, we remain concerned that the use of the concept of defamation of religions to achieve these aims has proven counterproductive and, instead of protecting religious believers, it has served as a means for State-sponsored oppression of religious believers. Thus my delegation supports the Special Rapporteur’s call for States to move away from the concept of defamation of religions and instead towards the legal concept of advocacy against racial or religious hatred that constitutes discrimination, or violence and give greater effort to address the manifestations of religious intolerance through greater initiatives aimed at fostering awareness of religious belief and mutual understanding.
Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See
65th session of the
United Nations General Assembly
Before the Third Committee, on item 66 (a) and (b):
Elimination of racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and related intolerance
New York, 1 November 2010
Mr. Chairman,
At the outset, my
delegation would like to thank the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of
racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance for his
report, in particular for addressing racial and religious intolerance. As we
know from events happening around the world, these particular forms of
intolerance persist in spite of the efforts of the international community and
people of good will.Mr. Chairman,
One year ago the
international community sought to renew its efforts to address racial
discrimination when it gathered in Geneva to review the progress achieved since
the Durban Conference of 2001. It was reiterated yet again that racism, racial
discrimination and xenophobia undermine the dignity of the human person and are
contrary to the efforts to build an authentic international community founded
upon the aim of promoting the universal common good by guaranteeing protection
of the rights of everyone. At that time, the Holy See reiterated that racism
and racial discrimination in any form or theory are morally unacceptable and
that national and local authorities along with civil society must work together
to honor the dignity of the human person without regard to race, sex, national
origin, religion or social circumstances.However, racism
and racial discrimination cannot be combated by laws alone. As the Special
Rapporteur rightly notes, addressing racism requires individuals to change from
within. This change requires awareness creation and growth in education on
moral and spiritual levels to form more fully the individual conscience so as to
properly reject the flawed belief in racial superiority and its corollary hatred
of entire populations. For its part, the Catholic Church throughout the world
promotes such academic, moral and spiritual growth for everyone so that each
human being, from conception until natural death, will be recognized as having
been endowed with an innate human dignity which must be protected and respected,
the grounding principle of all universal human rights.Despite these
efforts, racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and religious hatred continue
to destroy the human family as neighbors become enemies and communities become
places of ethnic and religious violence and destruction. Throughout history in
every corner of the globe, ethnic, racial and religious hatreds have caused
unrest. No country or culture is immune.
Thus
each national government has an obligation to be vigilant in the protection of
its citizens. The exercise of responsible sovereignty requires that the
State fulfill its primary duty to protect its own populations and, where a State
proves unable or unwilling to meet this responsibility, the international
community has the duty to use the juridical means necessary to protect those
citizens from grave and sustained violations of human rights.Mr. Chairman,
While racial or
ethnic discrimination occurs in many corners of the globe, respect for religious
freedom also continues to prove elusive for many. Religious freedom is central
to ensuring that all members of the human family can more fully develop
personally and spiritually. However, many around the world today lack even the
liberty to pray in community, to make personal expressions of faith and to
exercise their well-formed consciences in accord with their religious faith.
These are men, women and children whose searching for God is a prohibited
activity, with many facing serious physical and legal repercussions for the
pursuit of such a fundamental human need. My delegation regrets that the
Special Rapporteur’s interim report (A/65/295) fails to note the fate of
Christians who have been driven from their homes, tortured, imprisoned, murdered
or forced to convert or deny their faith around the world. This is a crisis
which continues to be ignored by the international community and requires the
urgent attention of international and national leaders to protect the right to
religious freedom of these individuals and communities.Mr. Chairman,
My delegation is
saddened by the recent attack on the Syrian Catholic community at Our Lady of
Deliverance Catholic Church in Baghdad last Saturday afternoon. This is again
another tragic incident of the continued intolerance, discrimination and
violence directed at Christians. Our thoughts and prayers go to the victims of
this attack and their families, some of whom I have known personally. My
delegation calls on the entire international community to work to ensure that
all religions and all believers have the most basic right to religious freedom
and worship.The hope for the
progress of humanity, which is at the core of this preeminent international
organization, cannot be realized until these abuses end. They must end and they
must end now! And, with God’s help, the cooperation of all people of good will
and of this organization, they will.My delegation
also notes with concern the over-identification of racial or ethnic identity and
religious belief, giving rise to individuals facing multiple forms of
discrimination because their unique identity goes unrecognized. This linking of
race and religion reinforces the flawed and tragic notion that religious belief
is inherently tied to one’s ethnic, national or racial background and thus
prevents religious minorities within ethnic and racial groups from expressing
and practicing their faith.In this regard,
the concept of the defamation of religions seeks to address instances of
incitement to religious violence, religious or ethnic profiling, negative
stereotyping of religion and attacks on sacred books, religious sites and
figures. However, as the Special Rapporteur notes, this concept does not
adequately address these abuses of human rights and international law, but
instead gives rise to instances where States have used the concept of the
defamation of religions as a justification for laws which prohibit the freedom
of religion and interreligious dialogue, and restrict the freedom of
expression. While my delegation supports all efforts to protect believers from
unjust hate speech and incitement to violence, we remain concerned that the use
of the concept of defamation of religions to achieve these aims has proven
counterproductive and, instead of protecting religious believers, it has served
as a means for State-sponsored oppression of religious believers. Thus my
delegation supports the Special Rapporteur’s call for States to move away from
the concept of defamation of religions and instead towards the legal concept of
advocacy against racial or religious hatred that constitutes discrimination, or
violence and give greater effort to address the manifestations of religious
intolerance through greater initiatives aimed at fostering awareness of
religious belief and mutual understanding.Mr. Chairman,
The increasing
movement of people across national boundaries has also seen a rise in xenophobic
mentalities directed against migrants based on race, national origin or
religious identity. While national legislatures have the responsibility for
creating laws which control entrance into their country, so too do they have the
responsibility to ensure that such laws are truly just and respect human rights
and international law. It is deplorable that, in the name of legal authority
regarding defamation of religion, local leaders and religious groups in the
society sometimes take the law into their own hands, causing social conflicts
and disorder. The growing migration of people has led to dramatic changes in
societies and has led to a number of communities around the world seeking to
better foster greater understanding and cooperation amongst their citizens and
new migrants. However, some of these efforts have proven counterproductive and
instead have created greater insecurity and division within communities and
families. To better foster greater understanding, education and the promotion
of mutual respect are of vital importance. As Pope Benedict XVI recently
stated, nations have the task of welcoming diverse nationalities and parents
have the responsibility to educate children on the “way of universal
brotherhood.”Mr. Chairman,
Racism, religious
intolerance and xenophobia continue to divide people from around the world.
Through respect for human rights and the promotion of the dignity of every human
being, we may better build a global community which sees all people as brothers
and sisters. Knowing what we must do, now let us proceed. With the means and
the understanding at hand, let us remove these scourges from the progress of all
peoples now.Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
Read more at www.holyseemission.org
Catholic Culture : Latest Headlines : Vatican envoy implores UN to recognize bias, threats against Christians
The Vatican’s representative at the UN denounced discrimination against Christians in an emotional address on November 1.
Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, the permanent observer for the Holy See at UN headquarters in New York, cited the massacre at a church in Baghdad as a vivid example of the dangers that Christians face. He reminded his listeners that he had been stationed in Iraq until recently, and was personally acquainted with some of the massacre victims.
The archbishop said with dismay that a UN report on religious tolerance did not “note the fate of Christians who have been driven from their homes, tortured, imprisoned, murdered or forced to convert or deny their faith around the world.” International leaders must address the oppression of Christians, he insisted.
Archbishop Chullikatt said that although the Holy See favors efforts to protect religion from “hate speech and incitement to violence,” his delegation was uneasy with the approach that targets “defamation of religion.” In practice, he said, measures promoted to stop “defamation of religion” have actually “served as a means for State-sponsored oppression of religious believers.”