Christian Perspectives

Trafficking persons an ignoble activity - Pope Francis

“The trafficking of persons is an ignoble activity, a disgrace to our society that calls itself ‘civilized'! Exploiters and clients at all levels should make a serious examination of conscience, within themselves and before God!”

These were the Pope's words to the participants in the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, gathered in Rome to discuss the issue of “The Church's Pastoral Care in the Context of Forced Migration”.

The assembly coincides with the publication of the document: “Welcoming Christ in Refugees and Persons Displaced by Force”, which calls attention to the millions of refugees, displaced, and stateless persons. It also addresses the scourge of human trafficking, which more and more frequently affects children who suffer the worst forms of abuse, including being forced into armed conflicts.

“Today,” the pontiff exclaimed, “the Church renews her strong call that the dignity and centrality of each person be always protected, in respect of fundamental rights … rights that she asks be concretely extended to the millions of men and women in every continent whose rights are not recognized. In a world where there is so much talk of rights it seems that the only one to have rights is money. We are living in a world ruled by money. We live in a world, in a culture ruled by the fetishism of money.”

In this context, the Pope noted that the dicastery responsible for the pastoral care of migrants and itinerant people is very worried by “situations where the family of nations is called to intervene in a spirit of fraternal solidarity with programmes of protection, often established against the backdrop of tragic events that almost daily are affecting the lives of many people.

I express my appreciation and my gratitude and encourage you to continue along the path of service to our poorest and most marginalized brothers and sisters.”

VIS

The Feast of Mother Mary in Florence in Italy

The annual feast of Mother Mary in Florence was celebrated on Pentecost Sunday in a grand scale.

Very Rev Mon Neville Joe Perera presided the Holy Mass with the procession of the statue of Mother Mary with Fr. Samantha Perera and Fr. Stepheno, the diocesan director for migrants in Florence. The Buddhist

Monk Ven. Dodandeniye Nandasiri and all the other associations in Florence participated in the occasion.

Mons. Neville Joe Perera insisted in his message to the gathering: “even though as migrants we are far away from our children, from our beloved husbands and wives, we should live a Christian life according to the Sacred teachings.

The Holy Spirit will bless us and guide us to live a true Christian life in our endurance.”

The event was organised by Rev Fr Samantha Perera with the support of the Catholic Community in Florence.

Priyadarshika Perera – Secretary

Mary, Mother of Christ Queen of May

J I Rosairo

The Church, has dedicated the Fifth month of the year; May to Mary, the chaste and pure maiden of Nazareth, who in the course of time was to become the Mother of Jesus. Truly, she had been pre-destined by God, from all eternity, to be the mother of His own begotten son, Jesus.

In the sixth month, as narrated in the Holy Bible, the Angel Gabrial was sent by God into a little city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man called Joseph of the House of David.

The virgin's name was Mary. While she was at prayer in her humble home one day, the angel came unto her with celestial greetings.

“Hail, thou that are highly favoured, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women.” Mary was deeply troubled at the strange greetings.

The angel sensing Mary's troubled mind, said, “Fear not Mary,for thou hath found favour with God and behold thou shall conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and he shall be called Jesus.” To which Mary replied, “How shall this be for I know not a man.” Whereupon the angel replying said unto her, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee and the Holy One that which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Mary replied, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord and be it done unto me according to thy word.” Whereupon, the angel departed from her.

Meanwhile, Joseph, her betrothed husband not willing to keep her in the public eye, was minded to put her away privately. While he pondered over these things, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream and said,” Joseph, fear not to take Mary as thy wife, for that which is conceived in her womb is of the Holy Spirit.”

Roused from sleep, Joseph did as the angel had bidden and took unto him Mary as his wife and knew her not till she had brought forth her first born son, Jesus.

The story goes that Mary, in the course of time, visited her cousin Elizabeth, who was too with child, in her old age, remembered the angel saying, “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” Elizabeth, eventually gave birth to a son who was named John, who was to be the Precursor of Jesus.

God, when He created the universe and everything in it finally created man and woman, whom he named Adam and Eve.

He created them in His own image and likeness and wished them everlasting life devoid of old age and death. God, nevertheless gave man a free will to do what he pleases.

But man in his stubborness disobeyed God and brought upon himself the wrath of God. God, however, in his love for humanity, brought about the birth of His only Son Jesus, through Mary, the humble virgin to suffer and die for all mankind.

Mary, is figured as the new Eve, in contrast to the disobedient and arrogant first Eve. We therefore honour Mary as our new Mother. Jesus, while hanging on the cross gave his mother, Mary, to be our own mother. Therefore, we should honour and love her as our own mother.

“Mother dearest, mother fairest,

Help of all who call on thee,

Virgin purest, brightest, rarest,

Help us help, we cry to thee.”

Financial crisis rooted in Rejection of Ethics

Last week, the Holy Father received the credential letters of four new ambassadors to the Holy See: Bolot Iskovich Otunbaev from Kyrgyzstan, David Shoul from Antigua and Barbuda, Jean-Paul Senninger from Luxembourg and Lameck Nthekela from Botswana. In the address he gave them, the pontiff urged them not to forget the predominance of ethics in the economy and in social life, emphasizing the value of solidarity and the centrality of the human being.

“Our human family,” the Pope said, “is presently experiencing something of a turning point in its own history, if we consider the advances made in various areas.

We can only praise the positive achievements which contribute to the authentic welfare of mankind, in fields such as those of health, education and communications. At the same time, we must also acknowledge that the majority of the men and women of our time continue to live daily in situations of insecurity, with dire consequences. Certain pathologies are increasing, with their psychological consequences; fear and desperation grip the hearts of many people, even in the so-called rich countries; the joy of life is diminishing; indecency and violence are on the rise; poverty is becoming more and more evident. People have to struggle to live and, frequently, to live in an undignified way.

One cause of this situation, in my opinion, is in the our relationship with money, and our acceptance of its power over ourselves and our society. Consequently the financial crisis which we are experiencing makes us forget that its ultimate origin is to be found in a profound human crisis. In the denial of the primacy of human beings! We have created new idols. The worship of the golden calf of old has found a new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly humane goal.”

“The worldwide financial and economic crisis,” the pontiff observed, “seems to highlight their distortions and above all the gravely deficient human perspective, which reduces men and women to just one of their needs alone, namely, consumption. Worse yet, human beings themselves are nowadays considered as consumer goods which can be used and thrown away.

We have started down the path of a disposable culture. This tendency is seen on the level of individuals and whole societies; and it is being promoted! In circumstances like these, solidarity, which is the treasure of the poor, is often considered counterproductive, opposed to the logic of finance and the economy.

While the income of a minority is increasing exponentially, that of the majority is crumbling.

This imbalance results from ideologies which uphold the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation, and thus deny the right of control to States, which are themselves charged with providing for the common good. A new, invisible and at times virtual, tyranny is established, one which unilaterally and irremediably imposes its own laws and rules.

Moreover, indebtedness and credit distance countries from their real economy and citizens from their real buying power. Added to this, as if it were needed, is widespread corruption and selfish fiscal evasion which have taken on worldwide dimensions. The will to power and of possession has become limitless.”

“Concealed behind this attitude,” the Bishop of Rome warned, “is a rejection of ethics, a rejection of God. Ethics, like solidarity, is a nuisance! It is regarded as counterproductive: as something too human, because it relativizes money and power; as a threat, because it rejects manipulation and subjection of people: because ethics leads to God, who is situated outside the categories of the market.

These financiers, economists and politicians consider God to be unmanageable, God is unmanageable, even dangerous, because He calls man to his full realization and to independence from any kind of slavery. Ethics, naturally, not the ethics of ideology, makes it possible, in my view, to create a balanced social order that is more humane. In this sense, I encourage the financial experts and the political leaders of your countries to consider the words of Saint John Chrysostom: ‘Not to share one’s goods with the poor is to rob them and to deprive them of life. It is not our goods that we possess, but theirs'.”

The Pope asserted that “there is a need for financial reform along ethical lines that would produce in its turn an economic reform to benefit everyone.

This would nevertheless require a courageous change of attitude on the part of political leaders. I urge them to face this challenge with determination and farsightedness, taking account, naturally, of their particular situations. Money has to serve, not to rule! The Pope loves everyone, rich and poor alike, but the Pope has the duty, in Christ’s name, to remind the rich to help the poor, to respect them, to promote them.

The Pope appeals for disinterested solidarity and for a return to person-centred ethics in the world of finance and economics.”

“For her part, the Church,” he reiterated, “always works for the integral development of every person. In this sense, she reiterates that the common good should not be simply an extra, simply a conceptual scheme of inferior quality tacked onto political programmes. The Church encourages those in power to be truly at the service of the common good of their peoples. She urges financial leaders to take account of ethics and solidarity. And why should they not turn to God to draw inspiration from his designs? In this way, a new political and economic mindset would arise that would help to transform the absolute dichotomy between the economic and social spheres into a healthy symbiosis.”

Finally, Francis greeted, through the ambassadors, the faithful of the Catholic communities present in their respective countries, urging them “to continue their courageous and joyful witness of faith and fraternal love in accordance with Christ’s teaching. Let them not be afraid to offer their contribution to the development of their countries, through initiatives and attitudes inspired by the Sacred Scriptures!”

VIS