Photo: AFP via Getty Images After election in Belarus, Catholic leaders urge restraint, dialogue
Catholic leaders have urged dialogue and restraint in Belarus amid violent street clashes following a contested presidential election on August 9.
“The two sides clearly have to talk if this dangerous situation isn’t to deteriorate,” said Fr Yuri Sanko, spokesman for the Belarusian bishops’ conference. “Although it isn’t for us to specify what’s needed to defuse the tension, we’ll keep on appealing for every spoken word to be considered carefully to avoid making matters worse.”
The Minsk-based priest spoke to Catholic News Service after two days of violence between protesters and security forces left thousands injured and arrested.
US governor set to sign bill that bans dismemberment abortions
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts [pictured] has praised the August 13 passage of a bill by the state Legislature to ban a second-trimester abortion procedure that removes the foetus in pieces, and he is expected to sign it.
When state Senator Suzanne Geist first introduced the bill, she called it “a brutal and unthinkable abortion method “that has no place in modern medicine and is a horrible practice in our society.” Co-sponsors of the measure and Nebraska pro-life leaders called it “gruesome,” “barbaric,” “inhumane” and “immoral.”
“This legislation protects unborn children from the brutality of being torn apart limb by limb, and we look forward to Gov. Pete Ricketts signing it,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life.
Church charities in Britain seek extra government funds as recession hits
The Catholic Church asked the British government to give extra cash to religious charities to prevent them from going bust as the country crashed officially into a recession.
In a letter to Oliver Dowden, secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, church leaders warned that Catholic charities faced “a perfect storm” financially, and many could be forced to close down.
They requested that the ‘gift aid’ scheme, under which the government supports charities by augmenting private donations with an additional 25 pence for every £1 private donors declare on taxes, be extended immediately to a higher rate.
Even an extra 8p per £1 would help to offset losses of hundreds of thousands of pounds incurred by Catholic dioceses and Catholic charities since the lockdown began in March, the leaders suggested.
Covid-19 awakens Kenyan rural parishes’ social ministry
In the collection baskets, priests in rural Kenya have been counting a dollar or two – or even five – which congregations have been giving to boost the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a significant way, the parishioners have responded to the Church’s call for help, delivering bags of foods and other essentials items such masks and sanitisers to priests. The support is meant for the less fortunate, in the villages, towns and cities, as part of Catholic social ministry.
The priests say the pandemic has re-awakened social ministry in rural parishes, in a visible shift from the traditional focus on liturgical activities. The giving is little by little, but priests say it is vital. For example, a bag of corn can meet the food needs for a family for months.