<p>“Our document,” explained Cardinal Veglio, “is a pastoral guide that starts from a fundamental premise, ... which is that every policy, initiative, or intervention in this area must be guided by the principle of the
centrality and
dignity of every human person. … Indeed, this is the pivot of the Church's social doctrine: 'individual human beings are the foundation, the cause and the end of every social institution'. Refugees, asylum seekers, and the forcibly displaced,
therefore, are persons whose dignity must be protected, indeed, it must be the absolute priority. This is why the document recalls the rights granted to each refugee,
Subject: VISnews130606
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt <
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which promote the individuals' well-being. These are well described in the 1951 Refugee Convention.”</p>
<p>“Governments must respect these rights while further [rights to be extended] to the people involved in forced migration must be studied. Protection must be guaranteed to all who live under conditions of forced migration, taking into account
their specific needs, which can vary from a residency permit for victims of human trafficking to the possibility of being granted citizenship for those who
are stateless,” the cardinal observed. On the contrary, he noted, it is occurring more and
more frequently that refugees are subjected to confined detention, interment in
refugee camps, and having their freedom to travel and their right to work restricted.</p>
<p>“It would be very different if their recognized and declared rights were properly respected. After all, the States have established and ratified these convention to ensure that individuals' rights do not remain just proclaimed ideals or
commitments that are subscribed to but not honoured. … The Church, for her part, is convinced that the pastoral care for all persons who, in various ways, are involved in forced migration is a collective responsibility, as well as [the
responsibility] of each individual believer. … In close connection to moral values and the Christian vision, we mean to save human lives, to restore dignity to persons, to offer hope, and to give adequate social and communal responses. Letting
ourselves be challenged by the presence of refugees, asylum seekers, and other persons who have been forcibly displace compels us to go out of our closed world, which is familiar to us, toward the unknown, in mission, in the courageous witness
of evangelization,” the prelate concluded.</p>
<p>Cardinal Sarah then referred to the four million displaced persons within Syria, noting the 80,000 deaths, in less than two years, that have been “collateral effects” of the conflict. In this regard he observed that, up until the 1950's,
in war there was a proportion of 1 civilian victim to 9 military casualties while today that amount has been inverted and dozens of thousands of people are
in flight, “in the attempt to, at least, save their lives”.</p> <p>He also referenced the population of the Sahel region of Africa, condemned to hunger because of drought, likening the situation to that in the American states that have recently been hit by tornadoes. He emphasized that, “at whatever latitude,
the fight against against natural catastrophes is absolutely unequal and gives a sense of how humanity is at the mercy of nature instead of being its responsible custodian.” The cardinal did not overlook those who, even in Europe, are unemployed
and condemned to “a 'structural poverty', who pay the price of political choices with their own lives”. Many of these persons chose the path of emigration, unleashing the “phenomenon of a flight of [intellectuals], which further and
permanently impoverishes their country of origin”.</p>
<p>In this state of things “the Church intervenes in different ways according to her ability, mainly thanks to the worthy work of her charitable organizations and their volunteers”. But “charity, first of all, is
wed to the individual
… charity isn't a window or a register. Whoever is in need must be able to find a good Samaritan whose heart beats with theirs because they are made alike and because [the good Samaritan] serves Christ [in serving their neighbour in need].”
In the same way, charity “has a plural dimension: the refugee, the impoverished, the suffering need a network of ecclesial support that embraces and assimilates them … recognizing the dignity of the person and making them again feel part of
the human family, respecting their identity and their faith” because “the Christian community is called to live the ecclesial dimension of charity”.</p>
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<p>COR UNUM: SUMMER WILL AGGRAVATE CRISIS IN SYRIA</p>
<p>Vatican City, 6 June 2013 (VIS) – The Pontifical Council “Cor Unum” called a meeting, from 4-5 June, of the Catholic charitable agencies that are working to combat the crisis in Syria. Around 25 representatives of local churches,
charitable agencies working in the region, institutional donors from the Catholic world, the Holy See, and the Apostolic Nunciature in Syria gathered to
reaffirm the continuity of their commitment and to renew the Holy Father's appeal that all violence
cease and that paths of dialogue and reconciliation, based on respect for all, be opened.</p>
<p>The local Churches have responded concretely to the population, both in Syria and the entire region, from the beginning of the conflict. More than 400,000 persons are regularly supported, without discrimination, by humanitarian aid to the cost of
more than 25 million Euro. Testimonials confirm the extent of the tragedy: almost 7 million people who need humanitarian assistance, more than 4.5 million
forcibly displaced persons, and an ever-increasing number of persons seeking security outside of
the country's borders.</p>
<p>A more careful analysis of the needs in this area have revealed that, with the onset of summer, the risk of epidemics in the affected population—with pregnant women, children, the elderly, and the disabled in particular jeopardy—will
certainly increase along with shortages of medicines and aid.</p>
<p>In the face of this alarming situation, the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum” has launched an appeal on behalf of all the agencies involved to economically support the humanitarian efforts and the search for peace, in the hopes of rebuilding
a country that has been torn and destroyed by the conflict.</p>
<p>The international community must also provide more support to the countries that are receiving refugees and to humanitarian operations there, in order to be able to respond to their growing needs. The international community's mediation efforts, even
if more decisive in respect to previous months, still seem insufficient. Thus the risks are increasing that the conflict in Syria might become another endless war in which the first victims are defenceless civilians, who are often
treated as targets in
the “useless massacre” of this ongoing violence.</p>
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<p>SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN BILATERAL COMMISSION BETWEEN HOLY SEE AND ISRAEL</p> <p>Vatican City, 6 June 2013 (VIS) – According to a joint communique released today, “the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the Holy See and the State of Israel met [yesterday], 5 June 2013, at the Vatican, at the Plenary level
to continue negotiations pursuant to the Fundamental Agreement Art. 10 paragraph 2.”</p>
<p>“The meeting was headed by Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, under-secretary for the Holy See's Relations with States and by Mr. Zeev Elkin, M.K., deputy minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel. The Commission welcomed the
two new heads of
the delegations, and acknowledged the contribution of Ambassador Bahij Mansour to the negotiations and wished him success in his new position. The negotiations took place in a thoughtful and constructive atmosphere. The Commission took notice that
significant progress was made and the parties committed themselves to accelerate negotiations on the remaining issues, and look forward to an expedited conclusion in the near term.”</p>
<p>“The Parties have agreed on future steps and to hold the next Plenary meeting by December 2013 in Jerusalem.”</p>
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<p>AUDIENCES</p>
<p>Vatican City, 6 June 2013 (VIS) – Today the Holy Father received:</p>
<p> - the credential letters of the new ambassador of the Islamic Republic of
Iran, His excellency Mr. Mohamed Taher Rabbani,</p>
<p> - members of the presidency of the Latin American Confederation of
Religious Orders (CLAR), and</p>
<p> - Archbishop Beniamino Stella, president of Pontifical Ecclesiastical
Academy.</p>
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<p>OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS</p>
<p>Vatican City, 6 June 2013 (VIS) – Today the Holy Father appointed Fr. Lionginas Virbalas, S.J., as bishop of Panevezys (area 13,000, population 390,000, Catholics 320,000, priests 98, religious 76), Lithuania. The bishop-elect, previously
rector of the Pontifical Russian College of St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Rome, Italy, was born in Birzai, Lithuania, in 1961 and was ordained a priest in 1991. Since ordination he has served in several academic, pastoral, institutional, and
diocesan level roles, most recently as: consultor of the Jesuit Provincial Curia in Lithuania (2003); adjunct secretary general of Lithuania's Episcopal Conference (2005-2009); and pastor of St. Casimir parish in Vilnius (1997-2005 and again from
2009-2010). He succeeds Bishop Jonas Kauneckas, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached
the age limit.</p>
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