Freiburg (KNA) Caritas Germany has criticised the dropping of aid over the Gaza Strip as a sign of poverty and symbolic politics. “Uncontrolled drops of aid are the worst form of aid. They in no way ensure that the weakened population actually receives the vital support and are therefore an indictment of poverty,” criticised the…

Augsburg (KNA) Cardinal Reinhard Marx from Munich has called on the Church to defend freedom. “Freedom may be under threat, but then we as a church have to stand on the side of freedom,” said Marx on Tuesday in Augsburg. “Not on the side of authoritarian regimes, not of those who dream of the past,…

Hanover (KNA) Following the presentation of the first nationwide study on abuse in the Protestant Church, those affected are urging for swift consequences. “Much remains to be done,” said Detlev Zander, spokesperson for the organisation representing those affected, according to a statement issued by the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) on Tuesday. “Only if the…

New Delhi (KNA) Indigenous ethnic groups and human rights activists in northern India are condemning the sealing off of the border with Myanmar and the end of freedom of movement without visas and passports to the neighbouring country. According to media reports, the sealing off of the border with a fence primarily affects the predominantly…

Zurich/Notre Dame (KNA) According to the German historian and theologian Ulrich L. Lehner, all the problems of the Catholic Church in the abuse crisis were already known in the 17th and 18th centuries. “The Jesuits liked to present themselves as a particularly chaste order,” said the author of the book from the renowned University of…

Vatican City/Bern (KNA) A letter from Jewish rabbis to Pope Francis has caused a stir. The Vatican newspaper “L’Osservatore Romano” published extracts from the friendly letter on Thursday evening. On the political level, there had been criticism from the Israeli side shortly beforehand of statements made by the Pope’s chief diplomat Cardinal Pietro Parolin on…

Tobias Käufer (KNA) The socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela has called on the staff of the United Nations Human Rights Office to leave the South American country within 72 hours. This emerged from a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry in Caracas on Thursday. At a press conference, Foreign Minister Yvan Gil…

Kathmandu (KNA) The World Social Forum (WSF) began in Nepal on Thursday under the motto “Another world is possible”. 30,000 participants from 1,200 social movements and 100 countries will be discussing topics such as human rights, climate justice, food and democratisation in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu until Monday. “In fact, humanity is on the brink…

Strasbourg (KNA) According to a landmark ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), states may prohibit Jewish and Islamic religious communities from slaughtering animals by bleeding them without anaesthesia. In their decision published on Tuesday, the Strasbourg judges rejected the class action brought by Jews and Muslims from Belgium. They had opposed the…

By Severina Bartonitschek (KNA) Argentinian summit meeting in the Vatican: one inspired people for the Christian faith over 200 years ago, the other has also been working towards this goal globally for eleven years, the third recently won an election with completely different convictions. 11 February could be an interesting date for the Pope’s home…