UGNAYAN A3: NEWS A6: LOCAL

Cebu City NEWS SAMMY NAVAJA

B1: PASTORAL CONCERNS
THE NEWS SUPPLEMENT ACN leads campaign to bring back Killings, not Church, behind Duterte Address of Pope Francis to the participants of the
OF COUPLES FOR CHRIST Christians to Iraq rating dipbishop World Congress on Child Dignity in the
Digital World held in Rome on Oct. 3-6, 2017

Monitor
CBCP

OCTOBER 16- 29, 2017, VOL 21, NO. 21 CBCPMONITOR@AREOPAGUSCOMMUNICATIONS.COM

PROTAGONIST OF TRUTH, PROMOTER OF PEACE

CBCP condemning killings of top

terror leaders is fake news
By Christine Paguirigan

THE Catholic
Bishops Conference
of the Philippines
( C B C P ) h a s
expressed concern
about a fake news
report purporting to
reflect its view that
regrets the death
of two terrorist
leaders.
Archbishop Socrates
Villegas, CBCP president,
categorically denied issuing
such statement regarding the
killing of Omar Maute and
Isnilon Hapilon who led the
siege in Marawi City.
An article titled CBCP
condemns the brutal killing
of Omar Maute and Isnilon
Hapilon and was posted on
www.okd2.com went viral
Oct. 17.
The article, which was
shared by the Facebook
page Rodrigo Duterte
Supporters with around a
million followers, quoted
Villegas as saying that the
gory photos of the two
terrorists should not have
been shown in public. The
post got more than 35, 800
shares of October 17.
It also blatantly lied about
the CBCP head as supposedly
lamenting that deaths of
Hapilon and Maute should
be treated as another case of
extrajudicial killings in the Thousands of devotees join the grand Marian procession along the streets of Cebu City to honor and celebrate the 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fatimas apparitions in Portugal, October 13, 2017. SAMMY NAVAJA
country.
The CBCP never made efforts to free Marawi. dead, and for lasting peace in two bishops from Mindanao Edwin dela Pea of Marawi Islamic city.
such a statement, Villegas We will gladly join Mindanao, he added. have immediately reacted to who said that the death of Archbishop Martin Jumoad
said. On the contrary, we government in rebuilding While the CBCP has not the killing by the government the Maute Group leaders of Ozamiz, for his part, said
laud the gallantry of our the city in the measure we made any formal statement troops of Hapilon and Maute. signals the beginning of the that the incident serves as a
soldiers and their heroic are able. We pray for the yet on the matter, at least Among them was Bishop end of the hostilities in the Fake news / A6

Church urges faithful to join heal
the nation Edsa procession
A heal the nation campaign will see
people take to the historic street of
Edsa next month to pray for peace
amid the spate of killings in the
country.
The Lord Heal Our Land Sunday
on November 5 will start another
month-long period of praying for
victims of extrajudicial killings as
a result of the governments bloody
anti-drug war.
Cardinal Vidal dies at 86
To launch the activity, Catholic
bishops are inviting Catholics to
attend the mass at the Edsa Shrine at
3pm, the hour of the Divine Mercy.
After the Mass, a candlelight
procession will be held to the People
Power Monument a kilometer away
from the Shrine.
The Church enlisted of Our Lady
of Fatima in the campaign, and will
Procession / A6
Duterte asked: Wheres your outrage over
the 6.4-billion shabu shipment?
A RELIGIOUS order is puzzled over President
Rodrigo Dutertes supposed lack of outrage on
the P6.4-billion drug shipment from China in
May.
The Redemptorist Missionaries of
the Philippines said the 600 kg of
methamphetamines, locally known as shabu,
slipped through the Bureau of Customs due
to links of drug lords to politicians and BOC
officials.
In all of these, there was no howl from the
President and other high ranking government
officials, the Redemptorists said.
Duterte is known for his using colorful
language against people allegedly involved in
illegal drug trade, and even his critics.
The missionaries made the statement as they Churchgoers view photos of alleged extrajudicial killings displayed outside the
Outrage / A6 Redemptorist Church in Baclaran, Paraaque City last year. VINCENT GO

Church leaders react to deaths of top Marawi siege leaders

THE deaths of key leaders behind
the deadly siege in Marawi City is
making an impact on the Catholic
community.
Omar Maute and Isnilon Hapilon
were killed in gunbattle with the
Pope Francis is greeted by Cardinal Ricardo Vidal as he meets the cardinals for the first time government troops past midnight
after his election, at the Vatican, March 15, 2013. LOSSERVATORE ROMANO on Monday.
Omar and his brother Abdullah
CARDINAL Ricardo Vidal, the spokesman said. aligned themselves with Hapilon,
former Catholic archbishop of Cebu archdioceses spokesman a leader of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist
Cebu and the oldest among the Msgr. Joseph Tan said the prelate group and supposed emir of Islamic
four Philippine cardinals, has died at 7:26am Wednesday due State group in Southeast Asia.
died at the age of 86, a church Cardinal / A6
Bishop Edwin dela Pea is hoping
that the death of the terrorist
leaders will finally bring an end
to the hostilities in the city that
erupted since last May.
Crumbling leadership signals the
beginning of the end. Im beginning
to feel relieved, Dela Pea said.
Archbishop Martin Jumoad of
Ozamiz said the death of the key
terror is victory for peace and order
in our society.
This serves as a lesson that evil
must be conquered so that goodness Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff
may reign. May those who plan General Eduardo Ao shows images of militant
evil realize that there are so many
leaders Isnilon Hapilon, and Omar Maute during
a press conference at a military camp in Marawi,
Siege / A3 Oct. 16, 2017. JOINT TASK FORCE MARAWI
A2 WORLD NEWS
Christians in Middle East feel
abandoned, betrayed by the West
ROME, Italy As
interreligious tensions and
a migration crisis continue
in the Middle East, key
Church leaders in the region
have said Christians largely
feel abandoned by the
international community,
which has done little to help
resolve the situation.
According to Syriac
Catholic Patriarch of Antioch
Ignatius Joseph III Younan,
Christians in the Middle
East feel that we have been
abandoned, even betrayed,
because we were hoping that
the international community
would defend our rights
and provide us with the
equal chance to live in our
homeland, but that wasnt
the case.
Its not easy to endure that
violent upheaval in those two
countries, in Iraq and Syria,
he said, explaining that both
faithful and Church leaders
in the region share this sense
of abandonment and betrayal
by Western countries in
particular, which he said are
more opportunistic than
helpful.
We, the heads of Churches,
along with some other
prominent lay people who
have been caring for their
communities, we try to send
our voice, our rights, like St.
John the Baptist, but it seems
that we are shouting in the
desert, he said.
Y o u n a n c i t e d
opportunistic geopolitics
as one of the main reasons
Christians have either been
left homeless with no funding
to rebuild their cities, or left
lingering in refugee camps
for years due to a backlog
in visa requests while being
denied official refugee status.
We dont have the interest
regarding our faith among
the politicians that govern the
Western countries. We dont
have the numbers, we dont
have the oil, we dont pose
any terrorist threat to the
civilized world, and therefore
we have been put aside and
neglected, he said.
The patriarch is in Rome for
the Oct. 9-12 plenary assembly
marking the centenary of the
Congregation for the Oriental
Churches and the Pontifical
Oriental Institute, founded
by Benedict XV.
Christians from Iraq
and Syria who have fled to
Italian Catholic priest kidnapped in Nigeria
ABUJA, Nigeria An Italian Catholic
priest, who is a member of the
Neocatechumenal Way, was kidnapped
on Thursday by armed men in Benin
City, Nigeria, according to media
reports.
Fr. Maurizio Pallu had been a
missionary in Nigeria for three years.
According to the Italian bishops
publication, Avvenire, the kidnappers
may be local criminals whose aim would
be to obtain a ransom in exchange for
the priest.
While the Islamist terror group Boko
Priest who secretly ministered under Soviet rule moves closer to sainthood
VATICAN On Oct. 8,
Pope Francis advanced
eight causes for sainthood,
including a Capuchin priest
who ministered underground
across the Soviet Union for
nearly 40 years.
Fr. Serafin Kaszuba, OFM
Cap., was born June 17,
1910 in Zamarstynw, near
Lviv, in what was then part
of Austria-Hungary. Pope
Francis recognized his heroic
virtues Oct. 9, meaning the
priest can now be referred to
as Venerable.
Born Alojzy Kazimierz,
Fr. Serafin entered the
Capuchin novitiate in Poland
at the age of 18. He made
perpetual vows in 1932, and
was ordained a priest the
following year. He studied at
the Jagiellonian University
in Krakow.
Vatican Briefing
Syriac Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius Joseph III Younan attends a prayer event Santa Maria ai Monti parish in Rome, April 17, 2015.
DANIEL IBANEZ/CNA
neighboring countries such
as Lebanon, Turkey, and
Jordan are still living in a
kind of limbo. They dont
know what to do for their
children, he said.
In terms of numbers,
Younan said that so far more
than 50 percent of Christians
in Iraq have already left the
country, while a third of
the remaining Christian
population is internally
displaced.
As far as the Christian
presence in Syria, we can
easily talk about a third of
the Christian population
having left, with many still
waiting to be admitted to new
countries.
The main needs of refugees
and displaced persons is
first of all humanitarian
assistance, Younan said,
explaining that the Church
tries to provide for their
basic needs, but surely its
not enough, since most have
already been displaced for
several years.
We still suffer with them
in our souls because we dont
know what to do for them. We
cant seek refugee visas for
them, because otherwise the
Christian community would
be empty in their homelands
and for us this is a great
loss, he said. But we try to
respond to their basic needs.
In terms of dialogue
between Christianity and
Islam, the patriarch said at
times its difficult to speak of
such a dialogue in the current
cultural context, but it must
happen at the level of the
believers of each religion.
Haram is active in Nigerias northern
region, the priest was kidnapped from
the south.
Authorities are investigating the
incident.
Greg Burke, director of the Holy See
Press Office, posted on Twitter that
Pope Francis has been informed about
the Italian priest kidnapped in Nigeria,
Fr. Maurizio Pallu, and is praying for
him.
Fr. Pallu is 63 and a native of Florence.
As a member of the Neocatechumenal
Way, he was a lay missionary for 11 years
In 1940 he began
ministering in Lviv and
Volhynia, which was occupied
by the Soviet Union. The
region was later occupied by
Nazi Germany, until Soviet
forces returned in 1944.
During the ethnic cleansing
of Poles in Volhynia by
the Ukrainian Insurgent
Army during World War
II he refused to leave his
parishioners, moving from
one village to another as
the settlements were razed.
He escaped attacks on his
rectory.
Under the Soviet
government he was able to
legally register in 1945 as a
priest in Rivne, in what is
now Ukraine. He centered his
ministry in Volhynia, while
also travelling to the Latvian
and Lithuanian territories of
At the present moment,
dialogue is focused on how
the two can mutually and
peacefully coexist, he said,
with an emphasis on the
fact that we live in the 21
st century, that we have
to respect each other, to
accept each other and not
discriminate because of
religion.
This is also the mission,
the task of the countries who
have a word to say on the
international scene, he said.
We sit together at the United
Nations...and we talk about
human rights and therefore
we have to uphold those
rights for all, not only for
the ones who believe in our
religion, but for all people.
While the Holy See, and
Pope Francis in particular,
understand and are doing their
best to help in the plight of
Christians in the Middle East,
Younan said that in the broader
community the geopolitical
strategy of the mighty countries
is still in, lets say, the winning
part in the world.
To follow the ethics of
the Gospel, the real defense
of human rights is for those
who are the weakest and for
the forgotten ones among
the minorities in the Middle
East, he said, but thats not
the case, we are not the point
of their interest.
The first right that needs to
be promoted for Christians in
the Middle East is to be able
to live in freedom as equal
citizens, rather than second-
class citizens who face
harsh discrimination which
frequently goes unpunished
in various countries. In 1998, he entered
the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in
Rome.
After serving as a chaplain in two
parishes in Rome, he was sent to
Holland, where he was a pastor in the
diocese of Haarlem. From there, he
was sent to the Nigerian archdiocese
of Abuja.
Several other priests have recently
been kidnapped from the Nigerian state
of Edo, where Benin City is located, and
one has been killed. (ACI Prensa/
CNA)
the Soviet Union.
In 1958 Soviet authorities
stripped him of the right to
publicly perform priestly
functions, and he began
ministering secretly in
Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania,
and Estonia. In 1963 he went
to Kazakhstan, where the
Soviets had deported tens
of thousands of Poles. He
continued to minister in
secret, while publicly working
at a bookbinders.
He was arrested in 1966
and sentenced to prison, but
he escaped the following year
and continued working as a
priest in Kazakhstan.
Suffering from tuberculosis
and progressing deafness, Fr.
Serafin was able to return to
Poland, then a Soviet satellite
state, for hospital treatment
in 1968. He had lung surgery
by the law, the patriarch said.
Another key right is the
ability to choose our creed,
our religion, and the right
also to announce our creed,
our religion to others, he
said.
However, currently its
forbidden to evangelize in
Muslim countries apart from
Lebanon. Because of this,
weve been always, along
the centuries, reduced to
minorities because weve been
forbidden to be missionaries
in our own country.
Issuing an appeal to the
international community,
Younan asked that Western
nations not look at Christian
and other minorities in the
Middle East as numbers,
but as people, as persons,
being persecuted along the
centuries.
Weve been reduced to
minorities not because we
had to leave our countries,
but because we are not
considered equal citizens
with the Muslim majority,
he said, and called on this
so-called civilized world not
just to look for their own
political, economic interest,
but to protect the rights of
those who are persecuted
because of their religion and
their creed.
This is the way to deal with
our problems, our very critical
situation, he said. And if the
world fails to do defend the
human and religious rights
of everyone, the Middle
East will be emptied of their
Christian communities and
it would be a very great loss.
(CNA/EWTN News)
in Wroclaw, and returned to
Kazakhstan in June 1970.
The priest then ministered
primarily in Kazakhstan and
Ukraine until his Sept. 20,
1977 death, while reciting the
breviary, in Lviv.
Although his cause for
sainthood is in still at an
early phase, Fr. Serafin is
honored by the families of
those he served in Ukraine
and in Kazakhstan, many of
whom have preserved the
private altars where the priest
would celebrated Mass in
their homes.
Pope Francis gave the green
light for Fr. Serafins cause
to move forward during an
Oct. 9 meeting with Cardinal
Angelo Amato, Prefect of the
Congregation for the Causes
of Saints. (CNA / EWTN
News)
October 16- 29, 2017, Vol 21, No. 21 CBCP Monitor
Vatican court finds ex-hospital chief guilty
of corruption
Vatican City announced on Sept. 14 the conclusion
of the corruption trial of the former president
and treasurer of the Vatican-owned Bambino
Ges hospital in Rome. The Oct. 14 communique
announced the end of the trial and the conviction
of former president, Giuseppe Profiti, on charges
of abuse of office. The hospitals former treasurer,
Massimo Spina, was acquitted. Profiti was given
a penalty of one year imprisonment, one year
interdiction from public offices and a fine of 5,000
euros ($5,900). However, subject to the granting
of general attenuating circumstances, Profiti was
granted a five-year conditional suspension of the
sentence. A conditional suspension means that if
a new offense is committed in the five-year period
he becomes immediately subject to the penalty.
(Hannah Brockhaus/CNA)
Pope announces special 2019 Synod of
Bishops on South American region
Pope Francis announced the decision to hold a
special assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to take
place in October 2019, on the state of evangelization
in the Pan-Amazon region of South America. The
purpose of the assembly will be to identify new
paths for the evangelization of people in the Pan-
Amazon region of South America, meaning Bolivia,
Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guyana, Guyana,
Peru, Venezuela and Surinam, especially the
indigenous people, often forgotten, Francis said.
The assembly will also address the crisis of the
Amazonian Forest, a lung of great importance to our
planet. The Popes announcement was made in St.
Peters Square on Sept. 15 before the recitation of the
Angelus, and following the canonization Mass of 35
new saints. (Hannah Brockhaus/CNA)
Pope Francis to call astronauts aboard the
Space Station
From the start of his pontificate, Pope Francis
has gained a reputation for his phone calls to people
around the world--including a priest with cancer,
a Jesuit doorman, and a mother who had just lost
her son. But the Vatican announced on Oct. 8 that
the next call on Pope Francis list is going to be out
of this world literally. Pope Francis will contact
NASAs International Space Station via a satellite
call on Oct. 26 at 5 P.M., according to the Vatican.
Aboard the International Space Station are a total
of six astronauts, including three Americans, two
Russians and one Italian who have been orbiting the
earth, about 220 miles away. Pope Francis call will
mark the second time a Pope has contacted astronauts
in space. Pope Benedict XVI called the International
Space Station in 2011 via satellite link and spoke with
12 astronauts for about 20 minutes. (CBCPNews)
Pope dedicates October to praying for the
unemployed
Having dignified work is a topic Pope Francis
has continuously returned to since his election,
and it surfaced again in his latest prayer video,
which urges viewers to spend October praying that
employees have just working conditions, and for
the unemployed. The video, published Oct. 3, opens
showing a young woman in an office searching
through files and, when she cant find the one she is
looking for, an older colleague comes over and helps
her. As the scene plays out, Francis speaks in his
native Spanish, saying we should always remember
the dignity and rights of those who work, condemn
situations in which that dignity and those rights are
violated, and help to ensure authentic progress by
man and society. (Elise Harris/CNA)
Pope announces pre-synod meeting with
youth as participants
Pope Francis announced that ahead of next years
synod of bishops on youth, a preliminary meeting
will take place drawing young people from various
countries and walks of life. The gathering will give
them a platform to share not only their convictions
in the faith, but also their doubts and critiques. With
this path the Church wishes to listen to the voices,
feelings, faith and even the doubts and critiques
of the youth, Pope Francis said during his Oct. 4
General Audience. The meeting is scheduled to take
place March 19-24, 2018--seven months before the
synod--and will draw youth from countries all over the
world, including non-Catholics and non-Christians.
The synod, titled Young People, Faith and the
Discernment of Vocation, is scheduled to take place
in a years time, in October 2018. (Elise Harris/CNA)
Christians must be missionaries of hope,
Pope Francis says
True Christians are not sad or gloomy, but have
the specific task of being bearers of hope, Pope
Francis said Wednesday--and not only with their
words, but with actions as simple as a smile or an
act of charity. In his Oct. 4 general audience, the
Pope said it is encouraging to know that the disciples
are announcers of Jesus resurrection not only in
word, but with facts and with the testimony of their
life! Jesus, he said, doesnt want disciples capable
only of repeating learned and memorized formulas.
He wants witnesses: people who spread hope with
their way of welcoming, smiling and loving. The
most important part is loving, he said, because
the strength of the resurrection renders Christians
capable of loving even when love seems to have lost
its meaning. (Elise Harris/CNA)
CBCP Monitor October 16- 29, 2017, Vol 21, No. 21 NEWS FEATURES A3

Need a plumber, repairman?

Call the parish
Fr. Uldarico Dari Dioquino, assistant parish priest of Immaculate Conception parish
in Marikina, talks to a parishioner. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MARIKINA City A parish
in Metro Manila has opened
a hotline for parishioners in
need of skilled workers who
can fix leaky plumbing or
repair home appliances.
The Immaculate
Conception parish in this city
is providing its parishioners
a pool of accredited plumbers
and repairmen they can trust
to deliver good service, said
Fr. Uldarico Dari Dioquino,
assistant parish priest.
The parish serves as a
third party that processes
transactions between clients
and the service provider.
Our parishioners can call
a hotline, then we connect
them to our plumbers and
repairmen, said Dioquino.
According to the priest,
Indonesian bishop resigns
an identification card
authenticated by the parish
authorizes the plumbers and
repairmen to offer services to
parishioners.
Skilled workers, even
retired ones, regardless of
age, gender, and religion
may be duly accredited by
the parish, as long as they
meet specified standards and
requirements, said Dioquino.
He said this program is
part of the parishs efforts to
help the unemployed earn
from their skills, and keep
jobless youth off the streets.
It is also an effort to protect
unemployed young people
from the dangers of abuse
which, Dioquino noted, often
happens at home. (Oliver
Samson/CBCPNews)
ACN leads campaign to bring
back Christians to Iraq
MANILA Filipinos
may have a mistaken
impression that Iraq is an
overwhelmingly Muslim
country but what many do
not know is parts of Iraq are
home to the most ancient
Christian communities said
to be established by Saints
Philip and Thaddeus, two
of the twelve apostles of the
Lord.
These Christian
communities, most of
which belong to the Eastern
Orthodox Church, thrived
despite the predominant
Islamization of Iraq in
the succeeding centuries.
As recent as 2003, it was
estimated that there were
1.4 million Christians living
relatively peacefully with
their Muslim countrymen.
However, after the rise of
Daesh (ISIS), that number
has fallen to 250,000.
Had the Iraqi government
failed to stop the onslaught
of Daesh, it was feared that
Christians would have left the
country for good.
This is why pontifical
charity Aid to the Church
in Need is spearheading
Popes trip to Burma comes amid textbook
example of ethnic cleansing
NAYPYIDAW, Burma When Pope
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin speaks during the conference Return
to the Roots organized by the Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN)
in Rome, September 28, 2017.
efforts to rebuild the
Christian communities in
Iraq, particularly in Nineveh
province.
A few weeks ago, ACN
hosted a conference called
Return to the Roots to
update the international
community about the
milestones and the challenges
of the ongoing multi-sectoral
effort to facilitate the return
of Iraqi Christians to their
hometown.
No less than Vatican
Secretary of State Cardinal
Pietro Parolin attended the
Burmese military and local Buddhist
conference on behalf of the
Holy Father Pope Francis.
Christian presence is
fundamental in the Middle
East for peace, stability and
pluralism, Cardinal Parolin
said. Each of the Christian
communities have made
their own contribution in the
centuries.
ACN is supporting the first
phase of the reconstruction
of over 13,000 damaged
and destroyed homes. In
view of the mammoth task
ahead, ACN is calling on the
international community
maintains significant control within
to join forces with ACN in
supporting the continued
Christian presence in Iraq.
The Vatican Secretary of
State expressed his gratitude
for the support provided by
ACN in the three years since
the ISIS invasion, which has
enabled the many uprooted
Christian families to endure
this situation with dignity
and in security.
The conference was
attended by government
representatives, business
leaders, ambassadors
accredited to the Holy See
and international charitable
organizations interested
in humanitarian relief and
reconstruction of war-
ravaged zones in Iraq.
Since 2014 to date, ACN
has spent $36.6 million to
house and feed the Christian
IDPs in Northern Iraq. The
estimated cost for rebuilding
the Christian villages is $250
million. For more information
on how to help suffering
and persecuted Christians in
Iraq and Syria, please visit
www.acn-philippines.org.
(Josemaria E. Claro/
ACN)

amid embezzlement, affair Francis visits Burma, also known as

accusations
RUTENG, Indonesia An
Indonesian prelate resigned
Wednesday as Bishop of
Ruteng amid mounting
concerns surrounding
an alleged mistress and
reportedly stolen funds.
Bishop Hubertus Leteng,
58, was accused of borrowing
$94,000 from the Indonesian
bishops conference, as well
as $30,000 from the Diocese
of Ruteng.
Leteng said the money was
being used to fund a poor
youths education, although
he failed to give any further
details or information,
according to Ucanews. He
was additionally criticized for
reportedly taking a mistress
an allegation which Leteng
called slanderous.
In June, more than
60 priests of the diocese
resigned from their
assignments in protest of
Letengs administration of
the diocese.
A year earlier, 112 of
the dioceses 167 priests
had signed a letter of no
Siege / A1
good people who will oppose
them, he said.
For his part, Fr. Jerome
Secillano, executive secretary
of the bishops Committee on
Public Affairs, said extremism
will not end in the death of
the two leaders alone.
The priest said a holistic
approach and not just
military offensive is needed
in battling terrorism.
Education, employment,
confidence in Leteng, citing
their suspicions of financial
mismanagement and
incontinence.
The Vatican has been
investigating the accusations
brought against Leteng since
April, and Pope Francis
accepted Letengs resignation
Oct. 11.
Following Letengs
departure, Bishop Sylvester
San of Denpasar will serve
as apostolic administrator
of Ruteng until a bishop is
named.
Leteng was ordained a
priest of the Ruteng diocese
in 1988, and was appointed
its bishop in 2009. He was
consecrated a bishop April
14, 2010.
Though Indonesia is a
heavily majority-Muslim
country, the island of Flores,
on which Ruteng is located,
is largely Catholic. Flores
was colonized by Portugal,
and nearly 89 percent of the
population of the Ruteng
diocese is Catholic. (CNA/
EWTN News)
poverty eradication and
infrastructure development
should only be some of
the measures that this
government should undertake
if only to dismantle or at
least weaken the influence of
terrorist cells, he said.
More than 1,000 lives have
been lost in the nearly five-
month war, including 163
soldiers, 822 militants and
47 civilians. (CBCPNews)
Myanmar, this November, his visit will
come at one of the most contentious
periods of the countrys history.
Over the past month, state-supported
violence against Burmas Rohingya
Muslim community an ethnic and
religious minority has reached
staggering levels, causing the United
Nations to declare the situation a
textbook example of ethnic cleansing.
The scope of the humanitarian crisis
is enormous and its ongoing, said
Daniel Mark, Chairman of the U.S.
Commission on International Religious
Freedom, in an interview with CNA.
Once again we unfortunately have
another terrible crisis thats focusing
peoples attention on something thats
already a terrible situation.
This is a deep and longstanding
problem that weve been trying to call
attention to for a long time, but its going
to need an extremely long and concerted
effort to address, Mark told CNA.
Even addressing the immediate
humanitarian crisis is not going to solve
this profound underlying issue of the
Rohingya Muslims in Burma.
For years, the Rohingya, an ethnic
group whose main religion is Islam,
have faced grave persecution in the
Burmese state of Rakhine, where the
majority of them live. An estimated
1.1 million Rohingya live within the
majority-Buddhist country. Members of
the group have been denied citizenship
since the foundation of Burma in 1948,
and have suffered violence, and the
freedom to move or access clean water
since a military coup detat in 1962.
After a different military regime took
control in 1988, with even harsher
military crackdowns throughout the
country, the country has been referred
to as Myanmar.
Pope Francis will visit the country
in November, following stories of
horrifying human rights abuses and a
mass exodus of Rohingya civilians from
Burma.
The most recent wave of violence
began on Aug. 25, 2017, after which the
vigilantes enacted a campaign of burning
Rohingya villages and massacring the
civilians within them. It is still unclear
exactly how many people have been
killed in the violence, but Bangladeshi
Foreign Affairs minister A.H. Mahmood
Ali has estimated that at least 3,000
have died so far. As many as 400,000
people have been displaced within the
past month.
Neighboring Bangladesh has accepted
the majority of those refugees, and more
people have been internally displaced
within the country.
The military claims the violence is a
response to attacks by a small group of
Rohingya against border agents in the
Rakhine province, which left 12 officers
dead. However, the violence which
includes arson, sexual violence, and
internal displacement long precedes
those attacks, and other demonstrations
within Rohingya communities, said
Olivia Enos, a policy analyst in the
Asian Studies Center at The Heritage
Foundation, who specializes in human
rights.
Maybe some individual Rohingya are
acting out in self-defense, but to place
blame on Rohingya is misleading, Enos
said.
The military has a long, long history
of burning homes and villages, raping
women and children. The track record
is so long that to place the blame on
any kind of radical agents within the
Rohingya would be really inaccurate.
While violence and discrimination
against the Rohingya people at the
hands of Burmese authorities has been
ongoing since the 1960s, with increases
in persecution in 2012 and 2015, the
current crisis is of particular concern,
Enos said. She explained that the high
levels of displacement and increased
incidents of violence and destruction
set this conflict apart from the ones that
have come before.
Also concerning, she said, is the fact
this conflict is occurring after democratic
reforms which took place between 2011-
2015. While the nation is becoming
more democratic, she said, military still
Burma. Furthermore, the countrys
leader - Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung
San Suu Kyi has remained silent when
asked about the persecution of the group
within her country.
To add to the worries, Enos fears
that by focusing on the ethnic element
of the conflict, Western leaders may
overlook its religious aspect. The
vast majority of people in Burma are
Buddhist and they view the Muslim
minority group Rohingya as a threat to
the native Burman society, she said.
Its a religious conflict.
Mark stated that the religious element
of the conflict has been a concern of the
Commission since its founding in 1998.
As a result of this, weve been following
this very, very carefully and for a long
time, he said Weve recommended
Burma be designated as a Country
of Particular Concern every year, a
recommendation the U.S. Department
of State has followed each year its made
such designations.
The long history of the conflict means
that while there are immediate steps
that need to be taken to address the
humanitarian situation, work to end
the conflict will need to look at long-
term solution. This is all a result of the
systematic exclusion of these people
from Burmese society, he explained. All
the things were saying now about the
treatment of Rohingya Muslims going
forward are thing that we have been
saying all along, Mark continued.
Its been a tinderbox and that needs
to be addressed.
In the short term, Mark advocated
for immediate humanitarian aid and
assurance that humanitarian goods
will get to those in need of them.
He also called for accountability
for human rights violations and a
cessation of violence. He also noted the
need for the international community
to help support Bangladesh as it takes
in tens of thousands of people a day,
so a secondary crisis is not created
there.
Attacks need to stop and aid needs to
start. (Adelaide Mena/CNA)

Pope Francis on why he gives interviews

VATICAN In a preface to a new
book of interviews, Pope Francis
outlined his approach to speaking
with journalists, explaining that
he thinks interviews should be like
a conversation and this is why he
doesnt prepare answers in advance.
For me interviews are a dialogue,
not a lesson, the Pope wrote.
I do not prepare for this, he said,
stating that he usually declines to
read the questions when they are
sent in advance, instead opting to
answer organically, as he would in
an actual conversation.
Yes, I am still afraid of being
interpreted badly, he clarified,
while adding that as a pastor, its a
risk hes willing to take.
Everything that I do has pastoral
value, in one way or in another,
he said. If I did not trust this, I
would not allow interviews: for
me it is clear. Its a manner of
communicating my ministry.
Pope Francis gave his thoughts
on interviews, and why and how
he gives them, in a preface written
for a book called Now Ask Your
Questions.
The book, a a collection of both
new and old interviews with Pope
Francis, was compiled by Fr.
Antonio Spadaro, SJ, editor-in-
chief of La Civilt Cattolica. It will
be presented Oct. 21.
In the preface, Francis explained
that for him, giving an interview
is not like ascending a pulpit to
preach, but is a meeting between
him and the journalist: I need to
meet the people and look them in
the eyes, he wrote.
He said he likes to speak with
people from both small magazines
and popular newspapers, because
he feels even more comfortable.
In fact, in those cases I really
listen to the questions and concerns
of ordinary people, trying to answer
spontaneously and in a simple,
popular language, he explained.
He takes the same approach
in press conferences aboard the
papal plane when returning from
apostolic visits, he said, though he
sometimes imagines beforehand
what questions journalists may ask.
He knows he must be prudent,
he said, and he always prays to the
Holy Spirit before listening to the
questions and responding.
Historically however, Francis
wasnt fond of giving interviews.
I may be tough, the Pope said,
but Im also shy, stating that as
Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he was
a little afraid of journalists, though
one eventually persuaded him.
Ive always been worried about
bad interpretations of what I say,
he wrote. As with interviews in the
past, he said he was hesitant to
accept Spadaros request, though
eventually he did and gave two long
interviews, both which make up part
of the book.
The compilation also includes
various conversations with fellow
Jesuits, which Francis said are the
moments he usually feels the most
comfortable and free to speak.
Im glad theyve been included
in this collection, he said, since
Interviews / A7
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