27 december, 2016 zenit

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Papal Message to Taize CommunityPosted by ZENIT Staff on 27 December, 2016

A papal message has been sent to young people from the ecumenicalcommunity of Taize, who will be participating in a European Meeting ofYoung Adults taking place in Riga, Latvia, from Wednesday through Jan.1.

Here is the full text:

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Dear young people,

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Coming from every part of Europe, and from a number of othercontinents, several thousand of you have gathered in Riga, Latvia, forthe 39th meeting organized and led by the Taizé Community. With thetheme of bearing witness to hope that will be at the heart of yourreflection and prayers, Pope Francis is particularly close to you becausehe has often called you to not let anyone rob you of your hope. Duringthe WYD prayer vigil in Kraków he strongly emphasized this essentialreality of the Christian faith: “At the moment when the Lord calls us, helooks at all that we might be able to do, all the love we are capable ofsharing. He always wagers on the future, on tomorrow. Jesus urges youon toward the horizon, never toward the museum” (30 July 2016).

The Holy Father thanks you for choosing to leave your comfortablehomes to live out this pilgrimage of trust in response to the call of God’sSpirit.

Young Orthodox, Protestant and Catholic Christians, by these days livedin real fraternity you manifest your desire to be protagonists of historyand not let others decide your future. The Pope encourages you to standfirm in hope by letting the Lord live in your hearts and your daily lives.With Jesus, the faithful friend who never disappoints, you will be able towalk along the path toward the future with joy and devote your talentsand abilities for the good of all.

Today, many people are disconcerted and discouraged by violence,injustice, suffering and divisions. They have the impression that evil isstronger than anything. Therefore, Pope Francis invites you to show inyour words and deeds that evil is not the last word in our history. For “itis the time of mercy for each and all, since no one can think that he orshe is cut off from God’s closeness and the power of his tender love”(Apostolic Letter, Misericordia and Misera, section 21).

The Pope hopes that these days that bring you together in Riga will helpyou not to be afraid of your limits but to grow in trust in Jesus, the Christand Lord, who believes and hopes in you. May you, in the simplicity towhich Brother Roger bore witness, build bridges of friendship and makevisible the love with which God loves us.

From the depths of his heart, the Holy Father gives you his blessing, toyou young people participating in this meeting, to the Brothers of Taizé,and to all the people who welcome you in Riga and the surroundingregion.



Bishop Barron on Scorsese’s “Silence”Posted by Bishop Robert Barron on 27 December, 2016

I have long been an ardent fan of Martin Scorsese’s films. Taxi Driver,Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Aviator, Gangs of New York, The LastWaltz, Casino, etc. are among the defining movies of the last 40 years.And The Departed, Scorsese’s 2007 crime drama, was the subjectmatter of the first YouTube commentary that I ever did. It is certainly thecase, furthermore, that the director’s Catholicism, however mitigated andconflicted, comes through in most of his work. His most recent offering,the muchanticipated Silence, based upon the Shusaku Endo novel ofthe same name, is a worthy addition to the Scorsese oeuvre. Like somany of his other films, it is marked by gorgeous cinematography,outstanding performances from both lead and supporting actors, agripping narrative, and enough thematic complexity to keep you thinkingfor the foreseeable future.

The story is set in mid17th century Japan, where a fierce persecution ofthe Catholic faith is underway. To this dangerous country come twoyoung Jesuit priests (played by Adam Driver and Andrew Garfield),spiritual descendants of St. Francis Xavier, sent to find Fr. Ferreira, their

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mentor and seminary professor who, rumor has it, had apostatizedunder torture and actually gone over to the other side. Immediately uponarriving onshore, they are met by a small group of Japanese Christianswho had been maintaining their faith underground for many years. Dueto the extreme danger, the young priests are forced into hiding duringthe day, but they are able to engage in clandestine ministry at night:baptizing, catechizing, confessing, celebrating the Mass. In rather shortorder, however, the authorities get wind of their presence, and suspectedChristians are rounded up and tortured in the hopes of luring the priestsout into the open. The single most memorable scene in the film, at leastfor me, was the seaside crucifixion of four of these courageous laybelievers. Tied to crosses by the shore, they are, in the course of severaldays, buffeted by the incoming tide until they drown. Afterwards, theirbodies are placed on pyres of straw and they are burned to ashes,appearing for all the world like holocausts offered to the Lord.

In time, the priests are captured and subjected to a unique and terribleform of psychological torture. The film focuses on the struggles of Fr.Rodrigues. As Japanese Christians, men and women who had riskedtheir lives to protect him, are tortured in his presence, he is invited torenounce his faith and thereby put an end to their torment. If only hewould trample on a Christian image, even as a mere external sign, anempty formality, he would free his colleagues from their pain. A goodwarrior, he refuses. Even when a Japanese Christian is beheaded, hedoesn’t give in. Finally, and it is the most devastating scene in the movie,he is brought to Fr. Ferreira, the mentor whom he had been seekingsince his arrival in Japan. All the rumors are true: this former master ofthe Christian life, this Jesuit hero, has renounced his faith, taken aJapanese wife, and is living as a sort of philosopher under the protectionof the state. Using a variety of arguments, the disgraced priest tries toconvince his former student to give up the quest to evangelize Japan,which he characterized as a “swamp” where the seed of Christianity cannever take root.

The next day, in the presence of Christians being horrifically tortured,hung upside down inside a pit filled with excrement, he is given theopportunity, once more, to step on a depiction of the face of Christ. Atthe height of his anguish, resisting from the depth of his heart, Rodrigueshears what he takes to be the voice of Jesus himself, finally breaking thedivine silence, telling him to trample on the image. When he does so, acock crows in the distance. In the wake of his apostasy, he follows in the



footsteps of Ferreira, becoming a ward of the state, a wellfed, wellprovided for philosopher, regularly called upon to step on a Christianimage and formally renounce his Christian faith. He takes a Japanesename and a Japanese wife and lives out many long years in Japanbefore his death at the age of 64 and his burial in a Buddhist ceremony.

What in the world do we make of this strange and disturbing story? Likeany great film or novel, Silence obviously resists a univocal or onesidedinterpretation. In fact, almost all of the commentaries that I have read,especially from religious people, emphasize how Silencebeautifullybrings forward the complex, layered, ambiguous nature of faith. Fullyacknowledging the profound psychological and spiritual truth of thatclaim, I wonder whether I might add a somewhat dissenting voice to theconversation? I would like to propose a comparison, altogetherwarranted by the instincts of a onetime soldier named Ignatius ofLoyola, who founded the Jesuit order to which all the Silence missionaries belonged. Suppose a small team of highlytrainedAmerican special ops was smuggled behind enemy lines for adangerous mission. Suppose furthermore that they were aided by loyalcivilians on the ground, who were eventually captured and proved willingto die rather than betray the mission. Suppose finally that the troopsthemselves were eventually detained and, under torture, renounced theirloyalty to the United States, joined their opponents and lived comfortablelives under the aegis of their former enemies. Would anyone be eager tocelebrate the layered complexity and rich ambiguity of their patriotism?Wouldn’t we see them rather straightforwardly as cowards and traitors?

My worry is that all of the stress on complexity and multivalence andambiguity is in service of the cultural elite today, which is not thatdifferent from the Japanese cultural elite depicted in the film. What Imean is that the secular establishment always prefers Christians whoare vacillating, unsure, divided, and altogether eager to privatize theirreligion. And it is all too willing to dismiss passionately religious peopleas dangerous, violent, and let’s face it, not that bright. Revisit Ferreira’sspeech to Rodrigues about the supposedly simplistic Christianity of theJapanese laity if you doubt me on this score. I wonder whether ShusakuEndo (and perhaps Scorsese) was actually inviting us to look away fromthe priests and toward that wonderful group of courageous, pious,dedicated, longsuffering lay people who kept the Christian faith aliveunder the most inhospitable conditions imaginable and who, at thedecisive moment, witnessed to Christ with their lives. Whereas the



specially trained Ferreira and Rodrigues became paid lackeys of atyrannical government, those simple folk remained a thorn in the side ofthe tyranny.

I know, I know, Scorsese shows the corpse of Rodrigues inside his coffinclutching a small crucifix, which proves, I suppose, that the priestremained in some sense Christian. But again, that’s just the kind ofChristianity the regnant culture likes: utterly privatized, hidden away,harmless. So okay, perhaps a halfcheer for Rodrigues, but a fullthroated three cheers for the martyrs, crucified by the seaside.

Iraqi Christians Enjoy an Excited ChristmasPosted by ZENIT Staff on 27 December, 2016

By Mónica Zorita of Aid to the Church in Need

This year, Christian refugees in the northern part of Iraq are twice as excited to celebratethe birth of Christ. This is because the vast majority of the villages on the Nineveh plains,which had been under occupation by the “Islamic State” (IS) since the summer of 2014,have now been liberated. At the time of the invasion, 120,000 people fled the advancingjihadist threat; they found shelter in the Chaldean Archdiocese of Erbil, in Kurdistan.

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“When we received the news that IS was retreating, a spontaneous celebration broke outin the refugee camps. The people went out into the streets to dance and sing, as thoughthey did not have any other problems in their lives.” These are the words of Father LuisMontes, episcopal vicar of the Latin bishop for Kurdistan.

However, the missionary belonging to the Institute of the Incarnate Word told internationalCatholic charity Aid to the Church in Need that many obstacles remain before therefugees can return to their homes. He explained: “Approximately 60% of the homes onthe Nineveh plain were burned down. The terrorists not only seized all of their belongings,they also riddled the region with land mines,” even hiding explosives in children’s toys.

Nonetheless, the priest added that the people “have not lost the hope of being able toreturn to their homes. They envision themselves living back in their houses, receivingfriends and relatives there. Because hospitality is very important to them. Despiteeverything, Iraqis have lost neither their smiles nor their hope.” The missionary added: “Itis easy being a pastor here because they really live what they say. To talk aboutforgiveness with them is easy because they forgive without bearing a grudge. They arewhat gives us strength.”

Meanwhile, aid organizations are keeping the people going, remembering the refugees ina particular way at Christmas time. “It’s impressive to look into the faces of the childrenwhen they see the presents. Not only because of the things in and of themselves, butbecause people who live very far away were thinking of them,” said Father Montes.

Blankets are currently in huge demand, because the walls of the prefabricated barracks inthe refugee camps are very thin—too thin to keep out freezing temperatures of winter. It’sbelow freezing pretty much every day in winter, a sharp contrast with 100plus degreetemperatures in summer. People in the West tend to think it is hot in Iraq yearround, butthat is far from the truth.

Father Montes said that the refugees “know that Christians from other countries have keptthem alive,” adding that “they always pray for their benefactors.” Nevertheless, the prieststressed that the international community should not forget Iraq once the Islamic Statehas been defeated. “This country needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. The people havelost everything,” he said.

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Aid to the Church in Need is an international Catholic charity under the guidance of theHoly See, providing assistance to the suffering and persecuted Church in more than 140countries. www.churchinneed.org (USA); www.acnuk.org (UK); www.aidtochurch.org

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(AUS); www.acnireland.org (IRL); www.acnaedca.org (CAN) www.acnmalta.org(Malta)

Christmas and Hanukkah Coinciding in 2016Posted by Thomas Rosica on 27 December, 2016

Most Christians throughout the world celebrate the Nativity of our LordJesus Christ on Dec. 25, and on Christmas eve this year, Jews begantheir eightday celebration of Hanukkah at sundown. These two holidaysthat celebrate light occur during the darkest time of the calendar year.The last time that this ChristmasHanukkah convergence occurred wasin 1978, and next time it will happen will be in 2027. The shared dateshappen about every 30 years. It is interesting to note that both feastswere established under GrecoRoman rule, but 200 years apart fromone another. In the Roman Empire, around the first four or five centuriesof the Christian era, Roman sources also associated December 25 withthe date of the winter solstice.

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During the eightday period of Hanukkah, Jews celebrate the Festival ofLights and continue to long for the Messiah’s coming. Christians andJews celebrating these two feasts in the northern hemisphere do soduring the season of winter. Both faith communities draw on the symbolsof candles and lights that shatter the winter darkness.

Both feasts invite Christians and Jews to ask the deeper questions: Howdo we continue to long for the salvation that the Messiah will bring?What can we do to spread God’s light around us and dispel the darknessof fear, sin and despair? The fullness of the Messianic kingdom forChristmas and Jews still lies ahead.

While I was a student at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University years ago, Iheard a story about a certain Rabbi Menahem. When the old sage livedin Israel, a wild man climbed a high mountain, unnoticed, and from thetop of the mountain began to blow a trumpet over the city below. Therewas a great deal of excitement among the people and a rumour quicklyspread: The trumpet is announcing our liberation! When the rumourcame to the ears of Rabbi Menahem, he looked at the world outside hiswindow and said gruffly, “What I see is no renewal.”

At the first Christmas, there was just as little to see through the windowof the world. Outside the later Gospels, only a couple of secular Romanhistorians of the time mention in passing the name of Jesus. Even today,the questions arise: If Jesus is the Messiah “the bringer of peace” and ifhe really was born in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago, why is there stillso much sin and suffering and turmoil in the world? Why so much terror,hatred violence and war, much of it in the name of God?

We may ask ourselves at times: “Why is there no renewal? Was theMessiah’s project a failure?” The kingdom that Jesus preached was thedaring vision of Israel’s God of compassion, mercy, justice andrighteousness, a kingdom that involved reforming lives, adhering to thelaw of love, alleviating the pain and suffering of others, buildingcommunity, worshiping God in Spirit and truth. There is still much work tobe done to realize God’s daring vision, made known to us through hisonly Son.

Where do we begin? We start by working together as Christians andJews to protect the most important human values, which are threatenedby a world in continual transformation. Christians and Jews have aspecial affinity for life and must do everything in our power to uphold the



dignity of human life, from conception to natural death. We must promotethe dignity of the human person. At the core of Christian and Jewish lifeis the sacredness and centrality of the family. Christians and Jews mustbe known for our efforts in the areas of social justice, peace, andfreedom for all human beings.

Another area of common understanding and work is the Jewish andChristian concern for the created order and the care for the earth, ourcommon home. I have heard many Jewish groups express muchgratitude for Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Sì: On the Care for ourCommon Home. Pope Francis uses many Biblical texts to explain theessential values on which the encyclical is based. His recurring themesof the dignity of human beings is based on Genesis 1; the origin andconnection of humanity to the earth itself is found in Genesis 2; theinterconnection and inherent value of all life comes from Psalm 148; theconnection of the degradation of the environment to the degradation ofthe poor are based on the stories of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, as wellas other quoted texts. He also uses many of the same laws in the Torahthat Jewish environmentalists have been quoting for decades: the lawsof the Sabbatical Year and Jubilee from Leviticus 25, the protection ofspecies from Deuteronomy 22:67 and the Sabbath imperative to restfrom Exodus 23:12.

In Laudato Sì, Pope Francis is also very focused on climate change’simpact on the poor. His encyclical looks right at the moral and spiritualcrisis that climate change illustrates: moral, because of itsdisproportionate impact on the poor, and spiritual because it highlightsour disconnection to creation. The Holy Father makes a deep andthoughtful critique of the modern economy, consumerism, the currentconcept of progress, and the way in which technology can have anegative impact on the environment if not properly regulated. He calls foran open and honest discussion among all people to find effectivesolutions to this growing crisis. Many Jewish communities are seizingthis critical moment in the history of our planet to speak out clearly andloudly about our common future on earth that is in jeopardy. Together asChristmas and Jews, we must ask: “What kind of world do we wish toleave our children?”

Hanukkah and Advent meet this year in a providential way. As Christiansand Jews, we continue to pray together to God. The Jewish “Kaddish”



and the Christian “Our Father” express a common hope: “Thy kingdomcome!”

We must utter this prayer more loudly and clearly in these days ofdarkness for so many in the world, especially for the people of Syria, theHoly Lands of the Middle East that are still struggling for God’s justiceand peace, and for all those suffering in war, poverty, famine, injusticeevery corner of the earth. Our common longing for the fruits of theMessianic kingdom invites us, Christians and Jews, to a knowledge ofour communion and friendship with one another and a recognition of theterrible brokenness of the world.

As St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI and now Francis teach us sopowerfully through their friendship with the Jewish people, nothing andno one can ever wrench us away any longer from that deep communionand friendship. Pope Francis wrote beautifully about our relationship withthe Jewish people in his landmark Apostolic Exhortation EvangeliiGaudium:

“As Christians, we cannot consider Judaism as a foreign religion; nor dowe include the Jews among those called to turn from idols and to servethe true God. With them, we believe in the one God who acts in history,and with them we accept his revealed word.”

“Dialogue and friendship with the children of Israel are part of the life ofJesus’ disciples. The friendship which has grown between us makes usbitterly and sincerely regret the terrible persecutions which they haveendured, and continue to endure, especially those that have involvedChristians.”

The ‘tikkun haolam’, the healing of the world, its repair, restoration andredemption, including the redemption of Israel, depends upon us,together. To our many Jewish friends who view our television network,Hag Sameach! Happy and blessed feast of lights! Let us go forward inshalom! We have much good work to do together to heal a broken worldand to allow God’s light to shine on those living in darkness and in theshadow of death, to guide our feet into the paths of peace.

Have a look at Pope Francis’ last Hanukkah in Argentina in 2012 beforethe momentous events of March 2013 in the Sistine Chapel. ArgentineCatholics and Jews celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas together.



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Christmas Greetings From Bethlehem: TheIncarnation Isn’t a Reality ShowPosted by ZENIT Staff on 27 December, 2016

Here is the Christmas message from Franciscan Fr. FrancescoPatton, Custos of the Holy Land, reprinted from the Custody’sblog: custodia.org

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In the Psalm that Saint Francis composed for the celebration ofChristmas he reminds us that: “the Most Holy Child has been given tous, and has been born for us on the way and placed in a mangerbecause he did not have a place in the inn.” ST. FRANCIS, Office of thePassion, Ps. XV,7.

Every day in Bethlehem we contemplate the physical place, “on theway”, where Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. There we daily venerate

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the manger where he was placed. The physical reality of this placereminds us of the fact that the Son of God chose to share our historyand our life in a real manner. The mystery of the incarnation is not areality show in which common people, in front of a television camera, actby pretending to live real situations. Jesus came from a royal lineage,and yet he found himself being born on the way, because in a real wayhe did not find a place of welcome or any hospitality. He found himselfbeing born on the way as a son of immigrants – as we would saynowadays – more than as a descendent of a royal family.

This fact and this choice, which we daily commemorate in Bethlehem butwhich we live once more in the whole world particularly during thisintense period of Christmas, remind us of the fact that the Son of Godhas taken our human condition very seriously. Jesus identifies himselfwith the condition in which he found himself “on the way” not out of apersonal choice but out of necessity. He was born on the way becausehe was obliged to find work somewhere else. He was born on the waybecause he had to emigrate from a situation in which he was a victim ofdiscrimination and which did not permit him to live in dignity in his ownhouse. He was born on the way because an earthquake or floods havedeprived him of his own home. He was born on the way because waruprooted him from his own Country and made him become a refugee.These are the ways in which the Son of God who is born in Bethlehem,on the way, identified himself and still identifies himself, because there isno place for him where we normally live and find our place.

This child, however, reminds us of the words of Saint Francis, who isechoing the words of the Gospel and of the liturgy: “he has been given tous, and he was born for us.” We can also find ourselves deprived ofeverything, along the wayside, but if we have received this gift our life isalready full of meaning. Jesus is the true gift we wait for. Jesus is theonly gift that can fill our heart. Jesus is the gift that fills our life. Withoutthis gift all that we have will serve for our livelihood, but will not be usefulto live in a full and authentic way. Jesus was born for us. “Pro nobis” arethe Latin words, which make us grasp the reality that the entire life ofthat child was going to be a life given “for us”, a life from which we havereceived a great benefit: our salvation, the possibility to become,together with him, children of the same God the Father, the possibility toparticipate in the fullness of life and joy which make up divine life. Hewas born for us on the way, he was given to us on the way, he becamefor us the way leading to life, to happiness and to the fullness of love. Let



us gaze upon the manger in the grotto of Bethlehem, and there we canalready see in perspective Golgotha and the cross, where we will trulyunderstand the meaning of the expression of that child who was “bornfor us.”

On behalf of the Franciscans of the Holy Land and on my behalf, I wishyou the joy to feel moved not only in front of the small boy in the crib, butalso in front of each and every child of flesh and blood, whose armsreach out to us and who asks to be accepted. In that child we can seehow much the Son of God has become small for us. He became small ina real way, and not in a metaphorical sense.

I wish all of you, and above all those who feel that they are living “on theway”, in a fragile and vulnerable condition, to feel that you fall under thematernal and vigilant gaze of the Virgin Mary, and of the vigilant andcaring presence of Saint Joseph who stands beside her.

I wish all of you to come to know how to pass from sentiment to action,in order to recognise, in this present moment, the Son of God who is stillasking us to welcome him “on the way”, and who still risks not to find aplace among us and to have to find refuge somewhere else.

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you, to your families andcommunities.

Video Brings Renewed Attention to Plight of PriestKidnapped in YemenPosted by ZENIT Staff on 27 December, 2016

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A video has been released purportedly showing Indian priest Fr. TomUzhunnalil, who was abducted in March from Yemen, asking PopeFrancis for help.



The 5minute video was uploaded on social media a day afterChristmas. The speaker appears very weak and at times gasps forbreath.

Father Uzhunnalil was abducted in the ISIS attack that brought the deathof four Missionaries of Charity.

Related: Pope’s Telegram for Killing of Missionaries of Charity, Others in Yemen

The veracity of the video uploaded on YouTube and Facebook, or theperiod when it was shot, could not be independently verified. However,relatives of the priest say that the man in the video does appear to be Fr.Uzhunnalil.

Vatican Radio reported:

The Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia, in a statement issued onTuesday, has insisted on its continuous efforts to seek Fr. Tom’s releaseas well as the numerous appeals for prayers.

The priest sounds dejected for lack of efforts to save him. “If I were aEuropean priest, I would have been taken more seriously. I am fromIndia. I am perhaps not considered as of much value,” says the 59yearold. “Dear Pope Francis, dear Holy Father, as a father please take careof my life. I am very much depressed. My health is deteriorating,” hesays. He claimed his captors have made many contacts with theGovernment of India, President and Prime Minister.

“I am very sad that nothing has been done seriously in my regard,” hesaid. “Reports have been there in the news that everything is being doneto release me quickly. But in reality nothing seem to have happened. Iam very sad and depressed. I request also my fellow Christians in India,the Bishops and priests, to do their might to help me to get released andsave my life,” he added.

The Union Government has said efforts are being made to secureUzhunnalil’s release, but such attempts take time. External affairsminister Sushma Swaraj had informed Parliament that Prime MinisterNarendra Modi himself has spoken to various countries through whichcontacts can be established in Yemen. Swaraj had said it takes more

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time to secure release of people who are held captive and asked theMPs to keep “faith” in government’s efforts to trace the abducted priest.

“I have seen the video from Father Tom. He is an Indian citizen and thelife of every Indian is most precious for us… We will spare no effort tosecure Father Tom’s release from captivity,” Swaraj tweeted on Mondaymorning.

The Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia on Tuesday, has issued astatement, saying “the features of the person speaking in the video beara close likeness to Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil SDB. However the source of thevideo, the date of its creation and the circumstances under which it wasrecorded are unknown. “

“Even though we have no information about Fr. Tom’s presentwhereabouts, we have strong indications to believe that he is still alive,”the statement says.

The Vicariate has also insisted that “since the day of the abduction of Fr.Tom, the Church has made countless appeals from the highest levels tosecure his release as well as made concrete efforts by way of working inclose collaboration with both international and local diplomaticchannels.”

Pope Francis had made a heartfelt appeal to the kidnappers to releaseFr. Tom on Sunday April 10, 2016, “In the hope given us by the RisenChrist, I renew my appeal for the liberation of all persons seized in areasof armed conflict: in particular, I desire to remember the Salesian priest,Tom Uzhunnalil, kidnapped at Aden in Yemen this past March 4,” he hadsaid.

Bishop Paul Hinder, Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia, is in touch withthe different channels who are working and are leading the dialogues tosecure a safe release. The statement added that more details could notbe disclosed at this stage.

The Bishop has led constant calls for prayer throughout the Churches inthe Vicariate for Fr. Tom and the few handful of remaining Christians inthe country.

During the Christmas Mass on the midnight of the 25th of December2016, the Bishop and the tens of thousands gathered at the Cathedral



Parish of St. Joseph’s Abu Dhabi, prayed in silence for the safety of Fr.Tom.

Throughout the world there have been numerous appeals, calls to actionand raising up of prayers from the day Fr. Tom was kidnapped. TheSalesian Congregation to which he belongs and the Catholic BishopsConference of India have been in touch with government channels.Numerous pious associations and groups throughout the world havecalled for and organized prayer vigils and other demonstrations of publicsupport.

US Migration Week to Focus on ‘Creating aCulture of Encounter’Posted by ZENIT Staff on 26 December, 2016

National Migration Week 2017 will take place in the United StatesJanuary 814. This year’s theme is “Creating a Culture of Encounter.”The celebration provides an opportunity to raise awareness about thecontributions of migrants, including refugees, and victims of humantrafficking in our communities.

With over 65 million people forcibly displaced from their homes globally,the world is increasingly affected by migration. National Migration Week

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offers a time to educate Catholic communities about migration and tocome together to encounter immigrants and refugees in parishes,dioceses, and communities.

“National Migration Week is an excellent opportunity to highlight Biblicaltradition and our mission to welcome the newcomer,” said Bishop JoeVásquez of Austin, chairman of the U.S. Conference of CatholicBishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration. “While the observance isonly a week long, it is a vital time to show welcome, compassion, andsolidarity with our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters.”

As part of the 2017 National Migration Week celebration, the Justice forImmigrants (JFI) coalition will be launching a new website that willfeature news, background materials on migration policy issues, andways for individuals to get involved.

The observance of National Migration Week began over 25 years ago bythe U.S. bishops to give Catholics an opportunity to honor and learnabout the diverse communities of the Church and the work that theChurch undertakes to serve immigrants and refugees. The week servesas both a time for prayer and action to highlight the contributions ofimmigrants and vulnerable populations coming to the United States.

Educational materials and other resources for National Migration Weekare available for downloadat www.usccb.org/nationalmigrationweek. Posters, prayer cards, andbooklets are available through the USCCB publishing serviceat www.usccbpublishing.org.

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27 december, 2016 zenit