Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See’s permanent observer at the UN in Geneva, acknowledged that tragedies such as the “massive kidnapping and sale of young girls” by Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria, or the 250,000 children forced into military service and/or used as ‘human shields’ in warfare are those which receive most media attention.

He added that there are “other, subtler forms of slavery”. Among the examples he mentioned are forced child labour or marriage, and “caste-based forms of slavery”. He added that these subtler forms of slavery which transcend poor nations have to be acknowledged and fought.

‘War is madness’

At the end of last Sunday’s Angelus, Pope Francis said: “The numbers [of those killed during World War I] are shocking, they speak of over eight million young soldiers who fell and an estimated seven million civilians.

“This makes us understand that war is madness, and humanity has yet to learn the lessons from this madness. Because after this war, there was another world war and so many more still going on today.

“But when will we learn? When will we learn this lesson? I invite everyone to look at the crucified Christ to understand that hate and evil are defeated by forgiveness and good, to understand that the response of war only increases evil and death.”

Focus of Pope’s visit to Albania

During his visit to Albania starting today Pope Francis is expected to focus on the relationship between Christianity and Islam as well as on the victims of the Communist era. Most people in Albania – which under the Communists was officially an atheist state – are followers of Islam. However, Christians form a substantial minority.

The Pope is also expected to pay tribute to Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a native of Albania.

The Holy Father will celebrate Mass in St Teresa Square, in the capital Tirana.

This is the Pope’s fourth pastoral trip outside Italy. It is also his first to another European country other than Italy.

Principles of Catholic social teaching

In a talk entitled ‘Catholic social teaching: a beacon and leaven for Europe’, Cardinal Peter Turkson said: “The pillars [of the Catholic Social teaching] include: the dignity of the person, which is the foundational principle; the common good, which includes the universal destination of goods; subsidiarity, which includes parti­ci­pation; and solidarity, to which we should add reconciliation. Christians are called to use these guidelines for practical res­pon­ses to challenges such as the stubborn realities of poverty, exclusion, and suffering.

“The Church needs to teach the concepts better; we should adapt terms from other domains and use them to convey the Gospel message.”

Best poverty defence

At a seminar devoted to the family and the economic crisis held by Caritas Internationalis, the Church’s confederation of relief and development agencies, and the Pontifical Council for the Family, Caritas president Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga of Honduras, said: “The economic crisis has increas­ed inequality and exclusion. With so many challenges, our blood families, our global human family and our spiritual family have become more important than ever in ensuring we don’t fall into loneliness and desperation. Where economic and social systems fail, the solidarity and protection of families are the best defence against poverty.”

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)

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