(Vatican Radio) South Africa’s bishops have issued a warning about rising levels of political violence ahead of municipal elections to be held on August 3rd.In a statement sent to the Catholic Information Service for Africa, Bishop Abel Gabuza, chair of the bishops’ Justice and Peace Commission, invited members of all political parties to take part in a day of prayer for peace next Wednesday, July 6th.Listen to Philippa Hitchen's report: In the statement, Bishop Gabuza says peace in South Africa should never be taken for granted. To maintain peace, he insists, requires the responsibility of all citizens and political maturity on the part of the country’s leaders, especially during the election period. “The current levels of political violence do not reflect this sense of responsibility,” he warns.In particular Bishop Gabuza says political leaders have not been “visible and loud enough in their condemnation of the recent factional viole...
(Vatican Radio) South Africa’s bishops have issued a warning about rising levels of political violence ahead of municipal elections to be held on August 3rd.
In a statement sent to the Catholic Information Service for Africa, Bishop Abel Gabuza, chair of the bishops’ Justice and Peace Commission, invited members of all political parties to take part in a day of prayer for peace next Wednesday, July 6th.
Listen to Philippa Hitchen's report:
In the statement, Bishop Gabuza says peace in South Africa should never be taken for granted. To maintain peace, he insists, requires the responsibility of all citizens and political maturity on the part of the country’s leaders, especially during the election period. “The current levels of political violence do not reflect this sense of responsibility,” he warns.
In particular Bishop Gabuza says political leaders have not been “visible and loud enough in their condemnation of the recent factional violence and political assassinations.” He condemns those politicians who are mobilizing young people, “especially the unemployed youth, to engage in pre-election violence.” At the same time he appeals to young people in South Africa “not to allow themselves to be used by the politicians who exploit them in their “greed for power and government tenders.”
The bishop appeals to all eligible South Africans to cast their vote on August 3 and elect leaders who have the courage to speak out against greed and patronage politics. Finally, he calls on all political parties to participate in the day of prayer for peaceful elections, to be held in Durban on July 6th.
Pope Francis prays during his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 24, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 16:10 pm (CNA).Asked during a new interview if he has any message for Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who instigated the war in Ukraine, Pope Francis stated that "a negotiated peace is better than an endless war."CBS News broadcast some excerpts April 24 from a new interview conducted by journalist Norah O'Donnell with Pope Francis at St. Martha House, the pontiff's residence in the Vatican.During the exchange, the full version of which will be released on May 19, the Holy Father reflected on world conflicts and especially on the suffering of children during wars.O'Donnell asked the Holy Father if he had any message for Vladimir Putin regarding Ukraine, to which the pontiff replied: "Please, countries at war, all of them... Stop the war. Seek to negotiate. Seek peace. A negotiated peace is better than an e...
An aerial view of Washington Square in San Francisco on May 22, 2020. / Credit: JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty ImagesCNA Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).San Francisco police arrested a homeless man last Sunday for allegedly stabbing a parent from a nearby Catholic school after an altercation involving the two outside a historic Catholic church in the city. Twenty-five-year-old Marko Asaulyuk of San Francisco was charged with attempted murder and eight counts of assault with a deadly weapon.The Catholic school father, who was released from the hospital Sunday, only suffered a minor injury to his leg, Father Tho Bui, pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Church, told CNA Thursday in an email.San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone was conferring the sacrament of confirmation on the parish school's students and students from a nearby parish during a noon Mass when a "disruptive man" entered the church, as Bui described him.The man was walking up and down the main aisle of the ...
The pro-life flag from the Pro-Life Flag Project (www.prolifeflag.com). / Credit: Pro-Life Flag Project (www.prolifeflag.com)Toronto, Canada, Apr 25, 2024 / 12:50 pm (CNA).The International Pro-Life Flag will not fly over Toronto Catholic schools this May.Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) trustees voted against an April 23 motion proposed by trustee Michael Del Grande that the pro-life flag fly outside all schools and the Catholic Education Centre during the month of May, just as the board voted to fly the Pride flag in June.Del Grande's motion was defeated at the April 23 board meeting when only Garry Tanuan supported Del Grande's motion. The eight other board members in attendance and the two student trustees opposed his proposal.Though Del Grande could not muster enough backing from his colleagues, his plan, which would have also directed all TCDSB schools to teach an exclusively pro-life curriculum on May 9, the day of the National March for Life, garnered bois...