Canada’s major churches, the Canadian Council for Refugees and Amnesty International Canada are claiming that Canada’s Federal government should abrogate an agreement it has with the US government.
According to the agreement, people claiming refugee status are asked to claim this status in the first safe country they arrive in. This means that those who arrive in the US should claim asylum there and not travel to Canada. The churches and the NGOs are taking the government to court over the agreement.
“It is wrong, morally and legally, to send claimants back to the US knowing, as we do, that they may face serious violations of their basic rights,” said Loly Rico, president of the Canadian Council for Refugees.
The legal challenge is being launched because of US President Donald Trump’s policy on refugees. The Catholic Church is part of this legal challenge.
Vatican message highlights plight of seafarers’ families
In a message for Sea Sunday, Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, said: “In spite of the great progress in technology, which has improved communication between seafarers and their loved ones, the long months away from the family are still a huge sacrifice that often reflects negatively on family life.
“Too many are the cases of crews cheated out of their salary, exploited and abused in their work, unjustly criminalised for maritime accidents and abandoned in foreign ports. While it is our duty to provide all the necessary assistance and support, we call on maritime authorities to be vigilant and attentive in intervening to prevent abuses.”
Eight candidates move toward beatification
The Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints has issued decrees advancing eight candidates toward beatification.
The decrees, approved by Pope Francis, recognised: a miracle attributed to the intercession of a Polish woman, Anna Chrzanowska (1902-1973); the martyrdom of Bishop Jesus Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve, who died in Colombia in 1989; the martyrdom of Peter Ramirez Ramos, a Colombian priest who died in 1948; and the heroic virtues of: Colombian archbishop Ismael Perdomo (1872-1950); Polish lay Franciscan Luigi Kosiba (1855-1939); a Spanish religious, Paola of Jesus Gil Cano (1849-1913); an Italian religious, Mary Elizabeth Mazza (1886- 1950); and an Italian religious, Mary Crucified of Divine Love (1892-1973), born Maria Gargani.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)