Bishop Paolo Bizzeti, apostolic vicar of Anatolia, said that after the failed coup Turkey needs to use the “wea­pon of dialogue” to “understand what are the causes of this unease”.

He said the coup manifests an unease with the direction in which the nation is heading. He said “it is difficult, even for us, to understand the real dimensions of this struggle”.

In recent times, he added, there has been a “politics of hate, of confrontation, and this evidently leads to a larger explosion”.

Bad conditions in refugee camps

Bishop Shlemon Warduni of the Chaldean Catholic patriarchate said: “The situation for these refugees [Chaldean refugees from Iraq who fled the Islamic state] is very, very bad. At home in Iraq, they had homes. They had jobs. But now they have almost nothing. Presidents, ministries, they talk, but in reality what have they done? Those who made it out of Iraq [to refugee camps], they don’t even give them exit visas; some have no food. For this I cry, I supplicate, I pray for everyone to do something.”

O’Malley warns of anti-Muslim sentiment

In an interview with Irish broadcaster RTÉ News, Cardinal Seán O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston, US, said: “It’s easy to stir up resentment and to blame groups of people.”

O’Malley, a member of Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinal Advisers, warned that anti-Muslim rhetoric from US presidential nominee Donald Trump could stir up division.

He said: “Immigration is such an important issue. It requires people with wisdom to come together and talk about what is best for the common good. [We] need laws and a way of dealing with immigration that will not dehumanise people”.

He also said he was worried that the recent terrorist attack in France could lead to scapegoating Muslims.

Catholics more likely to vote for Clinton

A phone survey carried out by the Pew Research Centre, US, found that American Catholics favour Hillary Clinton whereas Evangelicals support Donald Trump. While about 70 per cent of Hispanic Catholics are for Clinton, white Catholics are evenly divided bet­ween the two main candidates. Clinton also enjoys a majority among those who describe themselves as ‘atheist’, ‘agnostic’ or ‘nothing in particular’. The survey was held among 2,245 Americans last month.

Genuine human rights are inalienable

At a UN meeting on human rights, Archbishop Bernardito Auza said: “In recent years, numerous assertions of ‘novel rights’ have surfaced that significantly stray from the vision of the human person, on which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the other conventions that form international human rights law, are grounded.

“Genuine human rights are inalienable and must be universally respected and advanced. However, the term ‘human right’ must be strictly and prudently applied, lest it become a rhetorical catch-all, endlessly expanded to suit passing tastes of the age. Such an elastic approach would discredit and undermine the very concept of human rights.

“A responsible exercise of human rights implies a faithful fulfilment of corresponding responsibilities. This reciprocity of rights and responsibilities not only applies [to] individuals, but it also informs the relationship of civil, legislative and judicial authorities with citizens and civil society institutions and groups.”

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)

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