“I urge you , then, brothers, remembering the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, dedicated and acceptable to God; that is the kind of worship for you, as sensible people. Do not model your behaviour on the contemporary world, but let the renewing of your minds transform you, so that you may discern for yourselves what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and mature.”
THE RECORD The children suffer...
“Be indefatigable in your purpose and with undaunted spirit resist iniquity and try to conquer evil with good, having before your eyes the reward of those who combat for Christ.” -Bishop Matthew Gibney
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While governments and media panic about interest rates, Pope Benedict appeals to the world to do more for those members of the human race who suffer the most - and have no voice Pope makes plea at conference on health care ministry ■ By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) - More must be done to remedy the poverty, conflicts and neglect that lead to the suffering or death of millions of children around the world, Pope Benedict XVI said. The Pope said he hoped the gross imbalances between developed and underdeveloped countries and the rich and poor would be “repaired as soon as possible with resolute action in favour of our smallest brothers and sisters.” Many children urgently need help, the Pope said on November 15 during a private audience with participants in a Vaticansponsored conference on “The Pastoral Care in the Treatment of Sick Children.” Participants in the November 13-15
Appeal: Pope Benedict XVI has tried to focus attention on the needs of the world’s children often forgotten in major trends or events. PHOTO: CNS
conference, sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, discussed ways the Church and Catholic health care workers could address the medical, pastoral and spiritual needs of sick children and their families. “I am thinking above all about the little ones who have been orphaned or abandoned because of poverty and the breakdown of the family; I’m thinking of the young innocent victims of AIDS or war and the many armed conflicts under way in different parts of the world; I’m thinking of the infants who die as the result of poverty, drought and hunger,” the Pope said, noting that 4 million newborns die within the first month. “The Church does not forget her smallest children,” he said. what the world’s richest nations are doing to improve living conditions Continued - Page 6
Do we love her - enough? A severely malnourished infant hangs limp from her mother’s back at a Catholic mission feeding centre in rebel-held Rutshuru, 80 kilometres north of Goma, in eastern Congo, on November 13. Congolese bishops have appealed to the world not to stand by while “genocide” takes place in their country. Aid workers began feeding tens of thousands of people who had gone hungry during fighting in rebel-held areas of eastern Congo. PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/FINBARR O’REILLY, REUTERS
Congo’s bishops denounce global indifference Warn “silent genocide” about to take place KINSHASA, Congo (CNS) - A group of Congolese bishops has denounced the international community’s tolerance of increasing hostilities in eastern Congo, which they called a “silent genocide” against the civilian population there. “We are calling on the international community to work sincerely to ensure respect for international law,” said the Congolese bishops’ committee
in a statement on November 13 on the war in the east and northeast of Congo. Decrying the alleged inaction of the UN peacekeeping mission MONUC, which the bishops accused of standing by and watching the violence, the bishops said it is “crucial that a peace and stabilisation force be sent to re-establish order in our country.” “The situation has reached intolerable proportions which are very worrying and could destabilise the whole region if nothing is done,” they said. Gratuitous large-scale massa-
cres of the civilian population, targeted murders of young people and systematic rapes perpetrated as a weapon of war now are part of the daily routine in the area north of Goma, the capital of North Kivu, they said. They pointed out that these conf licts between armed groups are taking place where mineral resources are mined. Ongoing fighting between rebels and pro-government forces has led to more than 1.5 million refugees. The most recent violence has displaced at least 250,000 people.
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Desperate: People flee after fresh fighting erupted around Kibati, Congo, in early November. CNS