www.Radiovaticana.org http://www.radiovaticana.va The voice of the Pope in dialogue with the world Webteam en 2005 Vatican Radio. All rights reserved. Vatican Radio webteam@vaticanradio.org webteam@vaticanradio.org webteam@vaticanradio.org 60 No Audio reports from Vatican Radio in Podcast http://www.radiovaticana.va/EN1/articolo.asp?c=693307 (Vatican Radio) “We have had an experience of working with the Holy Father in his role as Archbishop in Argentina and we know that he has a great fondness for the Movements”, says Shane Bennett, moderator of Brisbane’s Emmanuel Community, one of the many Movements gathered around Pope Francis for the Pentecost Vigil in St Peter’s Square Saturday. Not to be confused with the Paris based Emmanuel Community, the Australian branch – a recognized member of the Catholic Fraternity – was first formed in 1975 as a force for renewal in the faith and faith formation at a local level. Emer McCarthy spoke to Shane Bennett about his Community’s charism, its goals and the challenge Movement’s sometimes face from local churches, reticent to see them as an instrument of the New Evangelization. Listen: 00:14:26:11 The community comprises ordinary Catholic men and women, families, teenagers and young adults and has grown to embrace mission and outreach not only on national territory but internationally with missions in Uganda and Armenia among others. The main focus of the community – according to its website – is the call to community and Christian life and in outreach to those on the margins of the Church. “There is a great hope as there is in all sorts of other areas that Pope Francis will be encouraging and perhaps challenging”, says Bennett. “I don’t doubt that he’s going to be challenging. Because Movements - like anyone else – the tendency for all of us is to find a settled place. When we find a settled place the challenge for all of us is that we remain as pilgrims on this earth, focused on the mission that has been entrusted to us”. Bennett adds that Movements risk becoming self-referential when they fail to be missionary: “That means not just being concerned about ourselves and our movements but taking the responsibility that we have for the movements and seeing them as an instrument of God in the mission of the Church. This was very clearly the thinking of John Paul II when he really took hold of the Movements and commissioned them in the life of the Church. I don’t think Pope Francis is going to let go of that vision too quickly”. webteam@vaticanradio.org News 00:14:26:11 Sat, 18 May 2013 17:48:46 GMT 693307 http://www.radiovaticana.va/EN1/articolo.asp?c=693441 (Vatican Radio ) When Pope Francis made the first  major appointment to the Roman Curia, that of the Secretary of  the Vatican’s Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, he chose the Head of a Religious Order :  Father Jose Rodriguez Carballo. This 59 year old Spaniard had  in fact  been leading the largest group of  the Franciscan family, the Order of Friars Minor, since 2003. An order  which counts  some 15,000 friars in 113 countries the world over.   And on Saturday 18th of May on the eve of Pentecost,  in the Spanish Cathedral of Santiago de Campostela,  the  Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone  presided over Father Carballo’s  episcopal ordination raising him to  the rank of  Archbishop. To mark this occasion we bring you the words of Archbishop Carballo as he describes for us the Franciscan charism : Listen: 00:01:33:91 webteam@vaticanradio.org News 00:01:33:91 Sat, 18 May 2013 17:14:45 GMT 693441 http://www.radiovaticana.va/EN1/articolo.asp?c=693112 (Vatican Radio ) Knowing you are loved never wipes out the experience of rejection...Perhaps what one needs to hear are the words to the Holy Spirit of a hymn which we recite as the Sequence before the Gospel on the day of Pentecost. Monsignor Peter Fleetwood tells us how the third verse of this hymn, the 'Veni ,sancte spiritus', in the translation into English by Edward Caswall speaks to the Holy Spirit like this: 'Thou, of all consolers best, thou the soul's delightsome guest, dost refreshing peace bestow".... A programme produced by Veronica Scarisbrick for the series, 'Why Bother? Staying Catholic despite it all." Listen: 00:05:46:25 webteam@vaticanradio.org News 00:05:46:25 Sat, 18 May 2013 17:14:13 GMT 693112 http://www.radiovaticana.va/EN1/articolo.asp?c=692117 (Vatican Radio) - Monsignor Philip Whitmore brings us a musical meditation focusing on the Third Glorious Mystery of the Rosary, the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. Among the music he shares with us are three polyphonic settings of the Pentecest sequence, the 'Veni Sancte Spiritus' ... A programme produced by Veronica Scarisbrick. Listen : 00:07:28:94 webteam@vaticanradio.org News 00:07:28:94 Sat, 18 May 2013 17:09:07 GMT 692117 http://www.radiovaticana.va/EN1/articolo.asp?c=693321 (Vatican Radio) French President François Hollande signed a bill into law on Saturday, making France the 14th country worldwide and the ninth in Europe to legalise same-sex marriage. The first same-sex marriage in France is expected to be held in Montpellier on May 29. France’s same-sex marriage bill passed a vote in Parliament in late April, and it was immediately challenged on constitutional grounds. But the Constitutional Council ruled on Friday that the challenge is unfounded, clearing the way for the bill to become law and for the first same-sex marriage to take place after 10 days. Hollande spared no time in signing the bill on Saturday. However, citizens opposed to same-sex marriage have scheduled a protest against the new law for May 26, which is also Mother’s Day in France and three days prior to the first expected same-sex civil wedding ceremony. Caroline Roux, secretary general of Alliance Vita, a bioethics organization in Paris, says the debate is not over yet. “The law has been democratically voted but for us it hurts democracy and it hurts the rights of children. And it is in contradiction to democratic laws that should protect the most fragile in the society,” she said. “The debate is not over and it’s a very large social movement that was born. And (many) French people have discovered that this law is the first step to force gender theory in our society. And we are very concerned and we want to go on fighting against what is unfair regarding the children but also the human condition,” she said. “It is very difficult to reverse a law but we think that we could do it,” she stated. Listen to the report by Laura Ieraci: 00:01:41:66 webteam@vaticanradio.org News 00:01:41:66 Sat, 18 May 2013 13:16:18 GMT 693321 http://www.radiovaticana.va/EN1/articolo.asp?c=693214 (Vatican Radio) Nigerian troops launched an attack to try to take back control of the country’s northeast from Islamic insurgency. But the United States is warning troops to guard the safety of civilians in the process. The Nigerian military launched an air raid Friday in the country’s northeast, reportedly killing dozens of people. The raid was the government’s largest offensive to date against the Islamist extremist network Boko Haram, which launched a revolt about four years ago to establish a breakaway Islamic state. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the country’s northeast on Tuesday. The United States, an important investor in Nigeria, has since reacted to the offensive. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a strongly worded statement saying the United States condemns Boko Haram's campaign of terror but warning Nigerian troops to respect human rights and not to harm civilians. Nigerian defence spokesman Brigadier-General Chris Olukolade reported that troops destroyed several Boko Haram camps and weapons stockpiles in forests around Borno state. However, the effectiveness of this campaign is yet to be seen. Previous efforts to crush Boko Haram have always proved temporary, as the network eventually regroups and regains control of the region. Several thousand people have been killed since Boko Haram rose up in 2009; 55 were killed by the extremist group just last month. Listen to the report by Laura Ieraci: 00:01:01:70 webteam@vaticanradio.org News 00:01:01:70 Sat, 18 May 2013 08:24:10 GMT 693214 http://www.radiovaticana.va/EN1/articolo.asp?c=693160 (Vatican Radio) Malaria affects almost half of the world's population and claims the life of a child every minute... the good news is that not only is the deadly trend being reversed, but with the concerted effort of world leaders, NGOs and other organizations, malaria can be treated and ultimately, defeated. One champion in the fight against the disease is the Right Honorable Stephen O’Brien, MP in the British Government who has been campaigning against malaria for over 30 years. As from Friday, May 17, he has also been appointed Global Advocate for the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, sponsored by the World Health Organization. In this new role Rt. Hon. Stephen O’Brien MP will work with parliamentarians and other elected officials in malaria endemic countries to help reinforce political commitment to accelerating the fight against malaria in the countdown to the 2015 Millennium Development Goals. Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni asked the Rt Hon Stephen O’Brien to explain how the Roll Back Malaria Partnership works and what it aims to achieve… Listen to the interview… 00:12:27:55 The Rt Hon O’Brien explains that the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, was launched in 1998 by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank to mobilize global support and resources, and build effective partnerships to reduce the malaria burden. O’Brien explains that malaria is in fact endemic in many countries. “Especially in the poorest countries it has a debilitating effect in communities, and for children under five years of age and for pregnant mothers it is very often a death sentence. It is also very debilitating forl those who, often repeatedly get it, causing them to be unable to support their families and take part in their economies”. This he says is a reality right across the globe, but particularly concentrated in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. “Our objective” – he says “is to support those countries and to bring together the malaria control programmes and academic thinking to make sure – seeing we have got the tools to deal with this – that they are well applied”. Furthermore, the objective – he points out – is not just saving lives; it’s also improving lives so that developing countries may take their place in the global community. The Rt Hon O’Brien points out that he himself has been engaged in this field for over 30 years. Within the UK Parliament he has been working for the past 10 years to galvanize the will and the motivation of the political side through Parliament. By involving and motivating his fellow MPs – of all parties – he says “they were able to demonstrate that malaria is a wholly avoidable, wholly treatable disease, that therefore they realised it would be possible to make a massive contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals”. Clearly, he says, “we would like to be part of what comes after them as well. This will enable those in charge to decide “how to best use the hard-earned taxpayers’ money in the various programmes and through the Department of International Development to bear down on this avoidable and treatable disease” Working with many partners – O’Brien says - as well as in bi-lateral programmes, is something that has escalated in the past 10 years to become a very significant part of what the UK – in partnership - is able to offer to endemic countries and international organizations. Regarding the MDG target which is less than 100 days away, the Rt Hon O’Brien says the British Prime Minister is one of the Co-Chairs who are working very intensively to make recommendations to the UN Secretary General as to what should come after the MDG in 2015. He expects “those will be a continuing mix of human development goals such as bearing down on disease and giving people a life chance, but also a greater emphasis on some of the economic development opportunities which need to be put in place” O’Brien says he is personally optimistic that this will meet expectations and that malaria will continue to be one of the major focuses as to what we can achieve. Speaking of his own interest in the battle against malaria he says that he is currently engaged in a number of positions that have to do with public health and tropical disease, but his commitment actually goes back a long time. O’ Brien narrates that his interest in the cause was “initially sparked by a three-man expedition he undertook with two friends when they left Cambridge – one of whom is a scientist, another a very good cook as well as fundraiser – and himself who speaks French and was able to keep vehicles on the road”. The three friends – he says – “travelled through the Sahara Desert and through the Sahel (the RH Stephen O’Brien is currently the UK Special Envoy to the Sahel Region) all the way from Algiers down beyond Jos in Nigeria. We were collecting mosquitos to show that the worst type of malaria, the one carried by the anopheles mosquito, was able to breach the natural barrier Northwards of the Sahara and there were instances of this deadly disease in Algiers. We discovered that this was the case, and that the reasons for this could be overcome through various control measures as well as by recognizing that the spread of malaria was due to conflict and instability in the time of the Biafra war which had led to a lot of road transportation across the desert which in turn had become the vector that had got the parasite, borne by the Mosquito, up into the Mediterrean/North African State”. Once he became a politician – O’Brien says – he realised he had a platform to do something about it. He also realized that this was one of the great opportunities – one of the great prizes - that our generation “as global citizens” has to deliver, and for once “try and get ahead of the curve of the mosquito and the parasite and to get ahead to the point where we can have a credible plan to try to eliminate it...”. webteam@vaticanradio.org News 00:12:27:55 Fri, 17 May 2013 17:49:53 GMT 693160 http://www.radiovaticana.va/EN1/articolo.asp?c=693088 (Vatican Radio) The former Vatican ambassador to Egypt says Christians should become more actively engaged in the post Arab Spring political process taking place in their country. Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, who served as Apostolic Nuncio to Cairo and the Arab League from 2006 until last October, says the Catholic Church has played an important role in encouraging participation in the transition to democracy following the ouster of former ruler Hosni Mubarak in 2011. But he says there is fear of the increasing influence of radical Islam and a lack of security for minority communities. Archbishop Fitzgerald, a former head of the Vatican’s Council for Interreligious Dialogue, praised the growing cooperation of all the different Christian communities in Egypt and urged them to make their voice heard in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, expected to take place before the end of 2013. Archbishop Fitzgerald, who currently lives in Jerusalem, was in Rome this week to give a lecture on the aftermath of the Arab Spring at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies. He talked to Philippa Hitchen about the challenges facing the Christian communities in Egypt today: Listen: 00:12:22:94 “There has been a gain in freedom of expression at least and the start of a more democratic process…..Egypt has been spared a civil war…though there is violence there, it isn’t the same degree that there was in Libya or still is in Syria unfortunately… What is missing is the security….there was a promise to reform the Ministry of the Interior.…you have to give time to people who come to power….but people are disappointed that things aren’t being done…. People are afraid that the country is going to become more radically Islamic….there are new elections coming up later in the year and one would hope that people would say, well, we voted in these people last time but they don’t seem to have done anything for us, so let’s vote in somebody else…. I think the Church responded very well….by organizing meetings, courses…to make people aware of the importance of the democratic process….I think the Synod on the Middle East came at really the right moment, before the Arab Spring, in October 2010 – I think the message to Christians was just that, to be engaged in society, not to act as a minority that is suffering, withdrawn and enclosed in on itself, but to work together with others…. We’re very glad that the new Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria, Pope Tawadros II has shown a great openness to Christian unity….not only with Catholics but also Episcopalians, to Protestants and this is really a very good sign,” webteam@vaticanradio.org News 00:12:22:94 Fri, 17 May 2013 16:05:23 GMT 693088 http://www.radiovaticana.va/EN1/articolo.asp?c=693048 (Vatican Radio) It’s 4 years since the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war when government troops defeated the LTTE Tamil separatist rebels. The conflict had raged for more than 25 years and led to the deaths of up to 100,000 people and caused widespread destruction in the Tamil-dominated north and east of the island. But 4 years later, are the scars of this brutal conflict beginning to heal? Auxiliary Bishop of Colombo Emmanuel Fernando offered his assessment to Vatican Radio’s Susy Hodges. Listen to the extended interview with Bishop Fernando: 00:05:41:40 Four years after the end of the war, Bishop Fernando says “everybody is happy there is no more war and terror.” But when it comes to the unhealed wounds of this long standing conflict, he says “there are a lot of people, especially in the north and the east” who are still prevented from going back to their own lands, sometimes because the military has confiscated them and sometimes for other reasons. Bishop Fernando said he was among a group of Sri Lankan bishops who recently toured the north (where the fighting was concentrated during the war) and describes how they visited one village where the Catholic church “was razed to the ground” and most of the houses were extensively damaged during the fighting. He says a major problem is that 4 years after the war there is “still no civilian government in many areas of the north” with the military in charge of governing the area and he says “there is a big need” for a civilian authority to be set up instead. As the for minority Tamil population, Bishop Fernando says many of them “have given up the idea of a separate state (for Tamils) … but they want their rights to be fulfilled.” He also spoke of how the Catholic Church through the Caritas network is helping to promote reconciliation between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities by promoting opportunities for people from the north and south to travel and meet each other. He says in this way we “build trust in one another that we are all Sri Lankans.” webteam@vaticanradio.org News 00:05:41:40 Fri, 17 May 2013 14:47:21 GMT 693048 http://www.radiovaticana.va/EN1/articolo.asp?c=693043 (Vatican Radio) - EWTN's bureau chief here in Rome Joan Lewis brings us the Vatican week in review . Listen: 00:09:33:22 webteam@vaticanradio.org News 00:09:33:22 Fri, 17 May 2013 14:36:26 GMT 693043