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(Vatican Radio) The organisers of the recently concluded International Consultation Group for Justice, Corruption, Organized Crime and Mafias, sponsored by the Holy See's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, have released a document detailing the outcomes of their work. Below, please find the full text of the Outcome Document, in its official English translation

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Outcome document of the “International Debate on Corruption” and goals of the International Consultation Group for justice, corruption, organized crime and mafias.

Outcome document of the “International Debate on Corruption” (15 June 2017)

«That those who have material, political or spiritual power may resist any lure of corruption». This is the universal intention that Pope Francis has entrusted to his Worldwide Prayer Network for the month of February 2018, to commemorate once again the assassination of Blessed Giuseppe Puglisi, priest and martyr.

Starting from the month of September, 2017, the International Consultation Group for Justice of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development will focus its efforts on this matter for the upcoming year.

The International Debate on Corruption has expressed the common intent to deal with various forms of corruption, organized crime and the mafia. Corruption, prior to being an act, is a condition: hence the need for culture, education, training, institutional action, citizen participation. The Consultation Group proposes, therefore, to formulate different definitions of "corruption", as stated by Pope Francis and Cardinal Turkson in the book-interview «Corrosione», published on 15 June last.

The Consultation Group will not just come up with virtuous exhortations, because concrete gestures are needed. In fact, a commitment to education requires credible teachers, even in the Church.

«Let's pray for all the victims of the mafias, we ask for the strength to go forward, to continue to fight against corruption», wrote Pope Francis on 19 July.

The Consultation Group will constitute an international network. The Church in the world is in itself a network, and for this reason it can and must serve this purpose with courage, resolution, transparency, spirit of collaboration and creativity.

Anyone seeking alliances to obtain privileges, exemptions, preferential or even illegal pathways, is not credible. If we decide to follow this behaviour, we can all run the risk of becoming unsuitable, harmful and dangerous. Those taking advantage of their position to recommend people who are often not recommendable - both in terms of value and honesty - are not credible. Thus, the action of the Consultation Group will be educational and informative, and will address public opinion and many institutions to create a mentality of freedom and justice, in view of the common good.

Normally, the consequences of corruption are not easily recognized: one is unaware that an act of corruption is often at the base of a crime. The Consultation Group will therefore intervene to fill this gap, especially wherever, in the world, corruption is the dominant social system.

The Consultation Group will also investigate further into the development of a global response - through Bishops' Conferences and local Churches – to the excommunication of the mafia and other similar criminal organizations and to the prospect of excommunication for corruption. This will not be a simple road to follow: the Church is present in the world and must listen to all of its parts in order to dialogue with non-Christians as well in an active, transparent and effective way.

Moreover, it will be essential to develop the almost-lost relationship between justice and beauty. Our extraordinary historical, artistic and architectural heritage will be a formidable element supporting educational and social actions against all forms of corruption and organized crime.

The Consultation Group will also propose a political mindset - with particular attention to democracy and secularism – capable of enlightening actions towards civil institutions, to ensure that international treaties are effectively enforced and laws are standardized to best pursue the tentacles of crime, which go well beyond state borders. In fact, one of the goals is to study how to apply the principles of the Conventions of Palermo and Merida.

The Dicastery, by statute, «expresses the Holy See’s concern for issues of justice and peace» and must echo Pope Francis’ message for justice and peace. Corruption, in fact, also causes a lack of peace, so the Consultation Group will likewise analyze in-depth the relationship between peace processes and forms of corruption.

A movement, an awakening of consciences, is necessary. This is our primary motivation, which we perceive as a moral obligation. Laws are necessary but not sufficient. There will be three levels of action: education, culture, citizenship. We need to act with courage to stir and provoke consciences, shifting from widespread indifference to the perception of the severity of these phenomena, in order to fight them.

Vatican City, 31 July 2017

Goals of the Consultation Group

(study and educational, cultural, social and institutional actions).

1-      Define the concept of corruption within the broader fields of justice, anthropology and cultural crisis, and each of its criminal outcomes in relation to organized crime and the mafias.

2-      Raise the public opinion’s awareness to build a mindset and culture of justice.

3-      Identify the consequences of corruption (social, economic, political, institutional, cultural, spiritual, criminal) starting from precise facts, processes, events, and informing the public.

4-      Deepen the relationship existing between people, institutions and corruption, and between peace processes and corruption.

5-      Promote common International legal measures against corruption, organized crime and the mafias and follow their implementation.

6-      Identify concrete steps that can reinforce the application of policies and laws.  

7-      Deepen the knowledge on the history of corruption, the mafias and other criminal organizations, and disseminate the results of such studies through various means of communication.

8-      Deepen the relationship existing between corruption and social injustice.

9-      Give voice to the victims and spread their stories.

10-  Deepen and enhance the relationship existing between history, beauty, art and justice, promoting initiatives in this regard.

11-  Create an open discussion forum following several channels (web, publishing, media, arts) and promote a position on social media: Michelangelo For Justice on Facebook/Twitter/YouTube/ Instagram.

12-  Outline educational and informative proposals.

13-  Define a political vision in relation to the idea of democracy, secularism (laity), social justice, to promote integral human development.  

14-  Define the role of the Church and lay people against corruption, the mafias and organized crime. 

15-  Identify and make known best practices.

16-  Identify new subjects that can enrich participation in the Consultation Group by following the plurality of careers, sensitivities and geographical areas.  

17-   Locate businesses, adequate institutions and advocates for the economic development of the activities of the Consultation Group.

18-  Adopt publishing initiatives, meetings, debates, art events; promote actions on the mass media, social networks; make documentaries and e-magazines; promote actions in schools, universities, social organizations, in prisons, in charitable and educational organizations.

19-  According to the Statute of the Dicastery, identify governmental and non-governmental institutions, associations and groups with which to join the network, cooperating and determining common agreements.  

20-  Gather texts, documents, books and audio-visual material, encouraging the exchange of information to decide shared initiatives.

21-   Investigate further the possibility of spreading at a global level - through Bishops’ Conferences and local Churches – the excommunication of members of the mafia and similar criminal organizations. Also, further explore the issue of excommunication for corruption.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis held a General Audience on Wednesday, August 2nd, the first of his weekly appointments with pilgrims and tourists after their suspension for the month of July. The Holy Father continued his series of catechetical reflections on Christian hope, this Wednesday focusing on the Sacrament of Baptism, which he described as the “gateway to hope”. Below, please find the full text of the English-language summary of his prepared remarks, which was read after the main catechesis.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters:

In our continuing catechesis on Christian hope, we now consider the sacrament of baptism as the gate to eternal life. In the early Church, those about to be baptized made their profession of faith facing eastward, seeing the rising sun as a symbol of Christ. Even if our modern world has lost contact with such cosmic imagery, this symbolism retains its power. For what does it mean to be Christian, but to confess our faith in the light, a light that casts out gloom and darkness? In putting on Christ at baptism we become children of light. This light gives us new hope, helps us to know God as Father, and enables us to recognize Jesus in the weakest and poorest. When we were baptized we received a candle that was lit from the Paschal Candle, as a sign of Christ’s victory over the darkness of sin and death. This is also a sign of the life of the Church: to be ablaze with this new light! As Christians, let us remind each other that we have been reborn as children of the light, and, faithful to our baptismal calling, let us share the new hope that Jesus brings.

Greetings:

I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from Japan, Nigeria, Iraq and the United States of America. I am especially pleased to welcome the pilgrims from the Chaldean Patriarchate, accompanied by Bishop Shlemon Warduni. Upon all of you, I invoke the grace of the Lord Jesus, that you may be a sign of Christian hope in your homes and communities.  May God bless you!

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The Government of Malawi through the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology has hailed Catholic media houses and its practitioners for striving to advance evangelization and development. The government has since pledged its support. 

Nicholas Dausi, the minister responsible, made the commitment in the town of  Karonga, Sunday, after touring Tuntufye FM, a regional Catholic radio station belonging to the Diocese of Karonga. Later, the Minister attended the Eucharistic Celebration at St Mary’s Catholic Parish as part of the 51st Communications Sunday celebrations for the Catholic Church in Malawi.

Dausi challenged Catholic media houses to be more professional and not only broadcast pessimistic news.

“We should not thrive on bad news or something that is defamatory to our colleagues. Using Church media is crucial for the evangelization drive,” said Dausi who is also a Catholic.

He pointed out that the government would work hand in hand with Catholic media houses and that they would offer any support for them to grow and provide better services to the nation.

“I am impressed with the way Tuntufye FM of Karonga diocese is doing. They are doing fine, and we will support them,” he said.

Bishop Martin Mtumbuka of Karonga Diocese who presided over the World Communications Day Mass said the Catholic Church is grateful to God for the various tools of communication being used to spread the Gospel. He challenged Catholic media to be more professional in the execution of their functions.

“I would like to challenge our media houses and those working in these (media) houses to be more professional. We thank God for the gift of all communication tools. However, we are challenging ourselves to use them effectively. We can do much better than what we are doing with our television stations, radio stations and newspapers,” said Bishop Mtumbuka.

He said Catholic media houses should be a source of hope by highlighting the country’s development agenda and also by promoting programmes on the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

“Let us offer the message of faith for the glory of God and the development of this nation. We are the ones to champion this, and this can be done based on the way we do things. Let’s do things in a coordinated manner and be innovative,” he said.

At the same occasion, Episcopal Conference of Malawi Bishop-Chair for Social Communications and Research, George Tambala spoke on the message of Pope Francis’ for the Church’s 51st World Communications Day. The message calls for a culture of constructive information at the service of truth.

“Pope Francis challenges us all to break the various circle of anxiety and stem the spiral of fear that results from a constant focus on bad news such as war, terrorism, scandals and all sorts of human failure,” said Bishop Tambala.

The national celebration of the World Communications Day held in Karonga attracted the presence of all the Diocesan Communication Secretaries, Association of Catholic Journalists in Malawi representatives, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology, Justin Saidi also attended.

Some of Malawi’s Catholic media include the Episcopal Conference’s own Social Communications and Research Commission; Radio Maria Malawi; Radio Alinafe; Tigabane Radio; Tuntufye FM; Luntha Television, Montfort and Likuni Press.

(Prince Henderson in Malawi)

Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday resumed his General Audiences, after they were suspended during the month of July for a summer break.

The Holy Father once more took up the theme of Christian Hope, focusing on the Sacrament of Baptism, the Gateway of Hope.

In his catechesis, Pope Francis spoke about several aspects of the Baptismal liturgy. The older form of Baptism anticipated catechumens making the first part of their profession of faith turned to the west. After rejecting Satan, they turned to the apse, toward the east, where the sun rises, and professed their faith in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

In our times, the Pope said, we have lost our fascination with this rite; we have lost our “sensitivity to the language of the cosmos.” But we have retained the significance of the rite: To be a Christian means “to look to the light, to continue to make the profession of faith in the light, even when the world is wrapped up in the night and in darkness”:

Christians, he said, are not exempt from darkness. “They do not live outside the world, but through the grace of Christ received in Baptism, they are men and women who are ‘oriented’: they do not believe in darkness, but in the brightness of the day; they do not succumb to the night, but hope in the dawn; they are not defeated by death, but are yearning to rise again; they are not bent down by evil, because they trust always in the infinite possibilities of goodness. And this is our Christian hope.”

The Pope also looked at the symbolism of the gift of a candle during the Baptism ceremony. The candle is lit from the Paschal candle, and recalls the Easter vigil liturgy when the light goes out from the Paschal candle to all the individual candles, and the whole Church is illuminated. The life of the Church, the Pope said – using a strong expression – is a kind of “contamination” by the light of Christ, which is spread from one to another. “The more of the light of Jesus that we have as Christians, the more of the light of Jesus there is in the life of the Church, and the more the Church lives.”

Finally Pope Francis gave the faithful a kind of “homework assignment.” He asked those present to remember the day of their Baptism, “which is the date of your rebirth, it is the date of the light, it is the date in which…we were contaminated by the light of Christ.”

“What a grace it is,” the Holy Father said in conclusion, “when a Christian truly becomes a ‘Christopher’,” a “bearer of Christ” in the world. “If we would be faithful to our Baptism, we would spread the light of hope – Baptism is the beginning of hope, that hope of God – and we would pass on to future generations reasons for life.”

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Washington D.C., Aug 2, 2017 / 03:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Researchers in Oregon have announced that they have successfully altered genes in a human embryo for the first time in the United States, but Catholic ethicists warn that the procedure was morally objectionable for many reasons.

“Very young humans have been created in vitro and treated not as ends, but as mere means or research fodder to achieve particular investigative goals,” said Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Director of Education for the The National Catholic Bioethics Center, in a statement to CNA.

“Their value as human beings is profoundly denigrated every time they are created, experimented upon, and then killed. Moreover, if such embryos were to grow up, as will doubtless occur in the future, there are likely to be unintended effects from modifying their genes,” Fr. Pacholczyk continued.

A team of scientists led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov at Oregon Health and Science University announced this week that they used a technology known as CRISPR to edit sections of the human genome, performing the procedure on embryonic humans. The technology, which selectively “snips” and trims areas of the genome and replaces it with strands of desired DNA, has previously been used on adult humans and other species.

Researchers in China have also announced that they have used the technology on embryos, but the edited genes were only present in some of the embryonic subject’s cells.

While researchers laud the breakthrough as a step towards the birth of genetically modified humans and the potential ability to treat inherited genetic diseases, the embryonic humans created and tested in both the US and Chinese experiments were all destroyed within a few days of the procedure. If allowed to survive, the subject embryos would have carried the edits they received in their own egg and sperm cells, and thus have the ability to pass those edited genes down to future generations.

CNA also spoke to John DiCamillo, an ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, in February about CRISPR technology more broadly, and the ethics surrounding the technique. He stressed that while Catholics “need to be attentive to where the dangers are” surrounding CRISPR technology generally, he cautioned Catholics not to “automatically consider any kind of gene editing to be automatically a problem.”

He pointed to gene therapy trials for disorders such as sickle cell disease and cancer that show promise for treating difficult disorders. He also noted that there “could be limited situations that could exist where the germ line could be legitimately edited. In other words, making changes to sperm, to eggs, or to early embryos as a way of potentially addressing diseases – inheritable diseases and so forth.”

However, permitting edits to germ line cells - such as embryos, eggs, and sperm – could also be “very dangerous on multiple levels,” DiCamillo warned. Since the technology is so new, patients or their descendants could experience a range of “unintended, perhaps harmful, side effects that can now be transmitted, inherited by other individuals down the line.” An embryo who experiences gene modification could also carry and pass on edited genes.

Echoing similar concerns, Fr. Pacholczyk pointing as well to the guidance from the National Academies of Sciences' 2017 report on human gene editing. In the report, he said, the scientists point out that this kind of gene editing is controversial “precisely because the resulting genetic changes would be inherited by the next generation, and the technology therefore would cross a line many have viewed as ethically inviolable.”

Fr. Pacholczyk  also stressed the importance of limiting gene editing to therapeutic purposes, with the subject's best interests in mind. He stated that human beings should never be subjected to the research without themselves or their guardians being offered informed consent and without the treatment being ordered to the patient’s health and healing.

In the cases in Oregon, however, the parents of the children created were not able to give valid consent because ethical consent “by definition excludes any approval of directly causing their death or otherwise using [subjects] as mere means to an end.”

“These experiments were nontherapeutic, as the goal was ultimately to destroy the embryos,” Fr. Pacholczyk continued. “Consent is particularly important when dealing with very vulnerable research subjects, and human embryos are among the most vulnerable of God’s creatures.”

Currently, Food and Drug Administration regulations require that all embryos who experience gene editing are later destroyed.

Furthermore, to be ethical, any applications or experiments utilizing CRISPR or other gene editing technology cannot use any other methods in its process which are themselves intrinsically immoral, Fr.Pacholczyk said. The Catholic Church forbids immoral methods of removing spermatozoa and ova from the body outside of intercourse and conception of new human beings through in vitro methods because both techniques dissociate procreation from the integrally personal context of the conjugal act.

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Vatican City, Aug 2, 2017 / 04:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Wednesday Pope Francis said that to be a Christian means to have hope in the light of Christ, which we are filled with at our Baptism, even in the midst of difficulties or darkness.

“What does it mean to be Christian? It means to look to the light, to continue to practice the profession of faith in the light, even when the world is wrapped in night and darkness,” Pope Francis said Aug. 2.

The Pope resumed his general audiences Wednesday, following a break for the month of July. Addressing pilgrims gathered in the Pope Paul VI hall of the Vatican, he spoke about the hope found in Christianity, especially in our Baptism, which orients us toward the light of Christ.   

“Christians are not exempt from darkness, external and even internal. They do not live out of the world, however, because of the grace of Christ received in Baptism, they are men and women ‘oriented,’” the Pope said.

“They do not believe in the darkness, but in the light of day; they do not succumb to the night, but hope in the dawn; they are not defeated by death, but they want to resurrect; they are not bent over by evil, because they always confide in the infinite possibilities of good,” he said.

“And this is our Christian hope. The light of Jesus, the salvation that brings us Jesus with his light that saves us from the darkness.”

Francis began his address by explaining how there was a time when churches faced toward the east, so that when a person entered the doors in the west, he or she walked eastward toward the altar. Though this has fallen out of custom, it’s still an important symbol, he said.

“We men of modern times, much less accustomed to grasping the great signs of the cosmos, we almost never notice such a thing,” he said, noting that the west is the direction of the sunset, “where the light dies.” In the east, on the other hand, is where we see the first light of the dawn, casting away the darkness.

The Pope explained that in the ancient Church, during the rite of Baptism, the catechumens would make the first part of their profession of faith facing the west. When questioned, “do you renounce Satan, his favors, and all his works?” facing the west, they would respond “I renounce!”

They would then turn to face the east, the direction of the Orient, for the question: “do you believe in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit?” this time responding, “I believe!”

In our own Baptisms today there is the beautiful sign of the lit baptismal candle, showing the importance of light, he continued. Using a word he called “a bit strong,” the Pope said: “the life of the Church is contamination of light.”

“I would like to ask you: how many of you remember the date of your Baptism?” he asked. “Think, and if you do not remember it, today you have homework: go to your mom, your dad, your aunt, your uncle, your grandmother, grandpa and ask them, ‘What is my Baptism date?’”

He then instructed them not to forget it, adding that today’s commitment is to learn and remember your date of baptism, “which is the date of rebirth, is the date of light, it is the date in which,” he emphasized, “we have been contaminated by the light of Christ.”

It is a great grace when a Christian really becomes a bearer of Christ in the world, he said, especially for those who are in mourning, despair or darkness. And this can be understood in many small details, such as a light in the eyes, staying at peace, even during complicated times, and the desire “to restart well, even when many disappointments have been experienced.”

“We are the ones who believe that God is the Father: this is the light!” he said. “We believe that the Holy Spirit works without rest for the sake of humanity and the world, and even the greatest pains of history will be overcome: this is the hope that resounds  every morning!”

“We believe that every affection, every friendship, every good wish, every love, even the most minute and neglected ones, will one day find their fulfillment in God: this is the force that drives us to embrace our everyday life with enthusiasm!”

“And,” he concluded, “this is our hope: living in hope and living in light, in the light of God the Father, in the light of Jesus the Savior, in the light of the Holy Spirit that drives us to move on in life.”

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Manila, Philippines, Aug 2, 2017 / 06:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Brother Richie Fernando was a 26 year-old Jesuit seminarian from the Philippines when in 1996 he died protecting his Cambodian students from a hand grenade.

He is now on the road to sainthood, thanks to a norm issued by Pope Francis this summer that opens the door to canonization for those who have “voluntarily and freely offered their lives for others and have persevered until death in this regard.”

Father Antonio Moreno, head of the Jesuits in the Philippines, told Rappler July 30 that the order had received permission to begin the initial work of opening Brother Fernando’s cause for canonization.

Brother Richard (Richie) Fernando, S.J., arrived in Cambodia in 1995 to serve at a Jesuit mission which served people who had been disabled by polio, landmines, or other accidents.

According to the Jesuits of the Asia Pacific Conference, Richie quickly earned the trust of his young students as he learned their native language and took the time to listen to their stories of suffering.

One of his students was an orphan named Sarom, who became a soldier at 16 and was maimed by a landmine. Even while some at the mission found Sarom’s attitude troublesome, Richie wrote in letters to friends that Sarom still had a place in his heart.

On October 17, 1996, Sarom came to the mission school for a meeting with the school director and staff. While he had finished classes, he had asked to continue at the school, though his request was denied because school officials found him disruptive.

Angered, Sarom suddenly reached into his bag and pulled out a grenade, and moved towards a classroom full of students. The windows of the classroom were barred, so the students were trapped.

Brother Richie stepped behind Sarom and grabbed him to prevent him from throwing the grenade.

“Let me go, teacher; I do not want to kill you,” Sarom pleaded. But he dropped the grenade, and it fell behind him and Brother Richie, exploding and killing the Jesuit, who fell over Sarom, protecting him and everyone else in the school from the blast.

Just four days before he died, Riche had written a long letter to his friend and fellow Jesuit, Totet Banaynal SJ: “I know where my heart is. It is with Jesus Christ, who gave all for the poor, the sick, the orphan … I am confident that God never forgets his people: our disabled brothers and sisters. And I am glad that God has been using me to make sure that our brothers and sisters know this fact. I am convinced that this is my vocation.”

He had also once written about death in a retreat diary, in which he said: "I wish, when I die, people remember not how great, powerful, or talented I was, but that I served and spoke for the truth, I gave witness to what is right, I was sincere in all my works and actions, in other words, I loved and followed Christ,"

In 1997, Richie’s parents wrote to King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia, asking pardon for Sarom. Again, Sarom said he had never wanted to kill Richie, who he considered a friend.

While the Philippines is a Catholic-majority country, the island nation only claims two canonized saints thus far, both of whom died in the 17th century: St. Lorenzo Ruiz, a martyr of Nagasaki, and St. Pedro Calungsod, a martyr of Guam.

However, numerous causes have been opened in recent years, with many people in the various steps of the process of canonization.

On July 31, the feast of Jesuit founder St. Ignatius of Loyola, Fr. Moreno said Richie is among many Jesuits who have imitated Saint Ignatius, "offering themselves in the self-sacrificing service of God and his people."

In his memo to the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus, Fr. Moreno noted that "various expressions of devotion to Richie have sprung up and continued, not just in the Philippines and Cambodia but in other places as well."

This includes a Facebook group in his honor, named: "Friends of Bro. Richie R. Fernando SJ."

The next step for Brother Richie’s cause involves building a compelling case for his life of virtue through his writings, talks, and interviews with those who knew him, among other things.

"I ask the prayers of all in the Province to beg the Lord's gracious assistance in this process that, if he so wills, it may prosper for the benefit of his people," Fr. Moreno said.

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