(Vatican Radio) As the deadline for the much anticipated cessation of hostilities looms, the people of Syria wait with bated breath.Bishop Antoine Audo, President of Caritas Syria spoke to Vatican Radio from his Aleppo headquarters and expressed his people’s hope for the silencing of all weapons… Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni: “Everyone – especially here in Aleppo – is awaiting this change. We are hoping… we have been suffering for six years, and we are hoping for signs of peace and reconciliation. We are hoping…” Meanwhile, bishop Antoine Audo, President of the local Syrian Caritas organization that is fundamental in getting humanitarian assistance into the besieged city, says his people are working as always and are able now to bring food and medicine into the city, although he has heard that factions opposed to the new deal are planning to step up the bombing again on the city center…Of his comm...
(Vatican Radio) As the deadline for the much anticipated cessation of hostilities looms, the people of Syria wait with bated breath.
Bishop Antoine Audo, President of Caritas Syria spoke to Vatican Radio from his Aleppo headquarters and expressed his people’s hope for the silencing of all weapons…
Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni:
“Everyone – especially here in Aleppo – is awaiting this change. We are hoping… we have been suffering for six years, and we are hoping for signs of peace and reconciliation. We are hoping…”
Meanwhile, bishop Antoine Audo, President of the local Syrian Caritas organization that is fundamental in getting humanitarian assistance into the besieged city, says his people are working as always and are able now to bring food and medicine into the city, although he has heard that factions opposed to the new deal are planning to step up the bombing again on the city center…
Of his community of Christians, Bishop Audo says: “they have welcomed the news with joy, but at the same time they are unbelieving”.
And again, he speaks of his hope for peace, for Aleppo, but also for the rest of Syria where he prays for a continued Christian presence.
And in line with Pope Francis, Bishop Audo reiterates his firm belief that the solution to the conflict must be a political one.
“Those who pursue a military solution want to destroy Syria” he says. But we need a political solution so that Syria can continue to exist as a peaceful and independent State, where people can work and live together.
Attendees lay flowers at the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan to mark the 109th anniversary of World War I-era mass killings on April 24, 2024. / Credit: KAREN MINASYAN/AFP via Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 18:00 pm (CNA).As historians and human-rights activists mark the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide this week, some are warning that Armenia is once again facing another existential threat.Speaking on "EWTN News Nightly" on Wednesday, Simone Rizkallah, an Armenian activist with the Philos Project, said that "this feels less like a remembrance and more like a truly historical event that we are in the midst of."The Armenian Genocide was carried out by Ottoman Turks in 1915 and resulted in the deaths of some 1.5 million Armenian Christians, according to historians. Though recognized as a genocide by the U.S. and more than 30 other countries, Turkey denies that characterization.The massacre took place over a hundred ...
null / Orhan Cam/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 12:30 pm (CNA).The addition of "gender identity" in the Biden administration's interpretation of anti-discrimination rules could jeopardize state laws that restrict women's sports and women's locker rooms to only women, according to legal scholars.Late last week, President Joe Biden's Department of Education redefined the prohibition on sex discrimination in education, enshrined in the 1972 Title IX provisions, to include discrimination based on a person's "gender identity." The new guidelines prohibit any policy and practice that "prevents a person from participating in an education program or activity consistent with their gender identity."Although the new guidelines do not clearly explain how the mandate would be enforced, experts at the legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and the conservative Heritage Foundation told CNA that it could force educational institutions to allow men who...
Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne attends a German Synodal Way assembly on March 9, 2023. / Credit: Synodaler Weg/Maximilian von LachnerCNA Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 13:57 pm (CNA).Four German bishops on Wednesday distanced themselves from the controversial Synodal Way's plans for a permanent body to oversee the Church in Germany, instead appealing for unity with the universal Church. The four bishops are the same who have previously blocked funding for this body: Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne and three prelates from Bavaria: Gregor Maria Hanke, OSB, of Eichstätt; Stefan Oster, SDB, of Passau; and Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg.In a joint statement, the prelates confirmed on April 24 that they would not be parties to a committee charged with setting up a German "Synodal Council, as this would conflict with the sacramental constitution of the Church."The four bishops also rejected the view that the German Bishops' Conference could legally establish a "synod...
