In a pastoral letter, the bishops of Panama said: “The Church does not seek any political influence. It simply aims at presenting the truth with all its moral strength and its experience in humanity. Our task is to form consciences, to defend justice and truth, build the Panama we all want and reaffirm a more participatory and inclusive democracy.

“We urge Catholics, men of good will, especially young people, to take part in the upcoming elections guid­ed by the Gospel and ethical criteria, to elect candidates of proven honesty, sincerity and responsibility.

“We urge the authorities to ensure that citizens can elect new leaders in a transparent manner, away from the demagogic practices and undue pressure, such as the buying and selling of votes and the illegal use of the assets and funds of the State.”

Christian persecution in Middle East

In a recent speech, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, said: “We cannot ignore the fact that Christians in the Middle East are increasingly being deliberately targeted by fundamentalist Islamist militants. Christianity was born in the Middle East and we must not forget our Middle Eastern brothers and sisters.

“I have tried to build bridges between Islam and Christianity and to dispel ignorance and misunderstanding. The point though, surely, is that we have now reached a crisis where the bridges are rapidly being deliberately destroyed by those with a vested interest in doing so – and this is achieved through intimidation, false accusation and organised persecution – including to Christian communities in the Middle East at the present time.”

Catholic editor faces charges in Malaysia

Fr Lawrence Andrew, the editor of Malaysia’s Catholic newspaper, will probably be prosecuted in court for using the word Allah in an ongoing controversy on how to address God.

The sultan of Selangor, one of the nation’s 13 states, had decreed that only Muslims can address God as Allah, a decision contested by Christians who have been using the word since the 17th century. Fr Andrew said Catholic parishes in Selangor would continue to use the term.

Fr Augustine Julian, a former secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, said pressure is being put on Catholics and that “the situation is quite serious”.

Only three per cent of the population of Malaysia is Catholic.

Marx defend Francis

Cardinal Reinhard Marx defended Pope Francis for criticising the ‘trickle down economics’ theory. Marx, a member of the Council of eight cardinals advising the Pope, wrote in L’Osservatore Romano that evangelisation entails the transformation of society, culture, politics, and the economy.

The cardinal wrote that the financial capitalism that has come to the fore since the 1990s has “led to a catastrophic crisis” as it “makes capital the point of departure” and views humans as “cost factors”. A vision that “reduces economic action to capitalism has chosen the morally wrong starting point”.

He added that “capitalism should not become the model of society” because “it does not take into account individual destinies, the weak and the poor”. On the other hand, the social doctrine of the Church offers the “spiritual foundations of a social market economy”.

“The future is not capitalism, but rather a world community that leaves more space to the model of responsible freedom and that does not accept that people, groups, and individuals are excluded and marginalised,” he said.

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)

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