People should be helped to understand the issue better, Turkson says.

La Croix International reports that the comment is at odds with the Ghana Catholic Bishops' conference, and has stoked outrage on social media.

"The position of the Catholic Church on LGBTQIA+ has remained the same; such practices are against not only Christian values, but Muslim and Ghanaian Traditional values as well," the bishops said.

"May God have mercy on him," posted one Ghanaian Catholic.

"Just because you're a Catholic leader doesn't mean that, whatever you say, Catholics can listen and do it," said another person on Facebook. "We have the right to oppose and no one can impose the law on us!"

Turkson's views are also at odds with Ghana's parliamentary discussions about a bill imposing harsh penalties on LGBT people.

Turkson, who has at times been regarded as a future candidate to become pope, says "LGBT people may not be criminalised because they've committed no crime.

"It's time to begin education, to help people understand what this reality, this phenomenon is. We need a lot of education to get people to... make a distinction between what is crime and what is not crime" he went on to say.

Law change proposed

In July, Ghanaian MPs backed a proposed bill that would make identifying as LGBT punishable with a three-year prison sentence.

People who campaign for LGBT rights could also face up to 10 years in jail.

At the moment, the bill has not completed its passage through parliament,

Gay sex is already against the law in Ghana. It carries a three-year prison sentence.

Catholic view - bishops, cardinal, pope

Turkson's views on the proposed law change challenge Ghana's Catholic bishops' views.

The bishops say homosexuality is "despicable".

In August, they made a statement along with other leading Ghanian Christian groups.

Western countries should "stop the incessant attempts to impose unacceptable foreign cultural values on us" the Catholic Herald newspaper reported the bishops as saying.

Cardinal Turkson refutes homosexuality as an outside imposition on Ghanian people.

He points to the Akan language (one of several Ghanian languages).

In Akan there is an expression "men who act like women and women who act like men". He argued that this was an indication that homosexuality was not an imposition from outside, Turkson says.

"If culturally we had expressions... it just means that it's not completely alien to the Ghanaian society."

Turkson thinks the current efforts to pass strict anti-gay measures in several African countries stem from "attempts to link some foreign donations and grants to certain positions... in the name of freedom, in the name of respect for rights".

Pope Francis is indicating the Church is willing to be more inclusive of homosexual love. Last month he suggested he would be open to having the Catholic Church bless same-sex couples.

"Neither should this position also become... something to be imposed on cultures which are not yet ready to accept stuff like that."

Source

• BBC
• La Croix International

In a message sent to Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences Cardinal Peter Turkson, the condemnation comes after a Russian drone attack in Lviv, Ukraine, obliterated a Caritas-Spes-owned warehouse containing humanitarian aid.

The secretary general of Caritas Internationalis, Alistair Dutton, said the Russian attack destroyed more than 330 tons of humanitarian aid for Ukrainians.

"The mission's employees were unharmed," the head of Caritas-Spes Ukraine, Father Vyacheslav Grynevych, said "but the warehouse with everything inside burned to the ground, including food, hygiene kits, generators and clothes."

Caritas Poland had just sent aid packages to support 600 families in Ukraine. The charity has pledged additional support for families in need.

This incident highlights a disturbing trend, as humanitarian warehouses have increasingly become targets for Russian forces in their ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

In his September 19th message, the Pope expressed deep concern about the ethical problems of using conventional weapons in contemporary warfare. He emphasised that such weapons, which should be utilised only for defensive purposes, must never be directed towards civilian targets.

"It is my hope that sustained reflection on this issue will lead to a consensus that such weapons, with their immense destructive power, will not be employed in a way that foreseeably causes ‘superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering,' to use the words of the St Petersburg Declaration," Francis said.

Cardinal Krajewski in Lviv

The Dicastery for the Service of Charity announced in a September 20 press release that Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, is in Ukraine this week.

He is there to open the House of Refuge "in the name of Pope Francis, as a sign of support and closeness to the many people who were forced to flee because of the conflict, bringing the apostolic blessing."

The new house of refuge is for displaced mothers and children.

The Vatican partially financed and built the shelter during the conflict with Russia.

Sources

CruxNow

Catholic News Agency

CathNews New Zealand

No investment of money is morally neutral; "either God's kingdom is being advanced by the assets we deploy, or it is being neglected and undermined," said a document titled "Mensuram Bonam".

Mensuram Bonam (For Good Measure) refers to the biblical passage "For the measure you use will be measured back to you".

It acknowledges that dioceses, Vatican congregations and Catholic organisations are responsible for growing their wealth, donations and investments to serve their mission. It insists that faith-consistent investment does not have to mean lower returns.

The document uses the principles of Catholic social teaching and definitive church pronouncements on issues such as abortion, nuclear weapons and the death penalty.

It calls on bishops' conferences and other Catholic investors to develop investment criteria that are consistent with the Catholic tradition and inspired by "a solidarity-based commitment".

While promoting needed financial returns, in terms of investments, the document emphasises the importance of "human dignity, care for creation and inclusive growth through united action bound by love".

Initial work on the document was done under the auspices of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development when it was led by Cardinal Peter Turkson.

A first draft of the document was shared with reporters in January and then revised.

"The document simply is saying anyone who manages finances must also accept the responsibility of what the management of finances entails," Cardinal Turkson said.

Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, the president of the Vatican Bank, said dangerous investments included gambling sites, dirty gas polluters, war profiteers and "adult entertainment, as they say".

When management of assets is outsourced without strict guidelines, money can end up in less than holy places. "It certainly does happen," he said.

The document, he stressed, was a guide, not a church dictate.

"No one is going to come and penalise you, absolutely no one," Mr de Franssu agreed. "Except your conscience."

The Holy See considers certain funds bad investments, no matter how lucrative. Companies that contradict church doctrine in areas like abortion or contraception are such offenders.

The guidelines also suggest that the faithful avoid investments harmful to workers or ones that strip natural resources, potentially producing economic migrants who undergo inhumane conditions to reach Europe.

Cardinal Turkson said the document includes other areas of concern that the bishops should consider adding to their criteria.

These include

• keeping animal experimentation to a minimum,
• discouraging the manufacture and marketing of computer games that glorify violence,
• upholding the rights of Indigenous people and
• not investing in companies connected to capital punishment, for example, by manufacturing the drugs used for lethal injections.

Sources

UCA News

New York Times

"Care cannot be divided because the human being cannot be divided. We could — paradoxically — save the body and lose humanity" Francis says.

Speaking in a video message released just before the 30th World Day of the Sick on 11 February, Francis said:

"The saints who cared for the sick always followed the Master's teaching: heal the wounds of body and soul; pray and act for physical and spiritual healing together," he said.

The current pandemic "is teaching us to view illness as a global and not a merely individual phenomenon". It should motivate reflection on other types of "pathologies" that threaten humanity, including individualism and indifference.

Francis explained these "pathologies" and other forms of selfishness generate inequalities, especially in the field of health care. The result is "where some enjoy so-called 'excellence" many others struggle to access basic health care.

"To cure this 'social' virus, the antidote is the culture of fraternity, based on the awareness that we are all equal as human persons, all equal as children of one God," he said.

"On this basis, it will be possible to have effective treatments for everyone. But if we are not convinced that we are all equal, this will not work".

Cardinal Peter Turkson, former prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, made similar comments during his World Day of the Sick homily at a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica to a congregation of sick people and their caregivers.

Reflecting on the divine consolation that God gives to his children, Turkson said Christians are also called to pass on that consolation to those who suffer in body and soul.

"Consolation means to encourage, to exhort, to comfort or to give joy to a person or community that find themselves in a situation of sadness, anguish and desolation," he said.

The people who dedicate their lives to consoling others draw inspiration from God who throughout history "has been close to a wounded humanity in order to comfort, strengthen and heal it".

Commemorating the World Day of the Sick is a "celebration of God's works of mercy," especially through those who work tirelessly in the health care field, Turkston said.

"May your hands, which touch the suffering flesh of Christ, be a sign of the merciful hands of the Father".

He then offered the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick to each of the sick in the congregation, praying for each one that they be healed in body, soul and spirit.

Source

• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

Several Vatican sources confirmed reports of the cardinal's resignation, which first appeared Thursday evening on traditionalist websites. The sources said the 73-year-old Ghanaian would likely step down on January 1st and that several other senior officials at the dicastery may also be resigning.

Rumours of a shake-up have been circulating for some time at the DPIHD.

Pope Francis created the dicastery in 2016 by merging four previously existing pontifical councils and their combined number of some 60 employees into one mega-office. It's located in Trastevere at the Vatican-owned Palazzo San Callisto.

Cardinal Turkson had headed one of the now-defunct councils (Justice and Peace) since 2009 at the time he was given his current post.

The dicastery is a key component to putting the pope's social teaching into practical action. It has the fifth-largest budget of the Roman Curia, rounding out at some 13.24 million euros in 2020.

Only the Congregation for Oriental Churches (18.4 million), the worldwide network of papal nunciatures (39.2 million) and the Dicastery for Communication (43.7 million) are allocated more money.

Serious internal tensions

The DPIHD budget was further increased after the health crisis, due to the establishment of the Vatican Covid Commission.

The commission, which facilitates strategies for creating a better world in the aftermath of the pandemic, has recourse to external consultants and has been exempted from a Vatican hiring freeze imposed in 2014.

The dicastery is even allowed to pay employees on fixed-term contracts higher salaries than people who work in other Vatican departments.

But, according to several inside sources, merging the four previous offices into one has created some very strong tensions, mostly due to coordinating difficulties.

Investigation and resignations

That prompted Pope Francis to call on Cardinal Blaise Cupich of Chicago last June and ask him to lead a "visitation" (or investigation) of the dicastery and assess its functioning.

The cardinal and two assistants completed their work on July 1 and it is understood that they recommended that the specific tasks of each of the dicastery's sections be more clearly defined.

Turkson's resignation would mark the failure of the merger of the dicastery, at least in the way it has functioned up to now.

Father Augusto Zampini, an Argentinean priest to whom the pope gave a key managerial role in the Covid commission, abruptly resigned last August.

It is understood that he was given one day to pack up and return to his home diocese. La Croix was told by sources that, curiously, the priest completely destroyed his personal archives before leaving Rome.

Meanwhile, Salesian Sister Alessandra Smerilli, a 46-year-old economist, was appointed at the end of August to be the secretary (or the Number 2 official) of the dicastery.

She replaced Bruno-Marie Duffé, a priest from France who had completed a five-year term.

• Source: First published in La-Croix International. Republished with permission.

Goodall has added her voice to the Vatican's in calling for the defence of biodiversity. She has seen hopeful trends in the global fight to protect the environment, one of which is Pope Francis.

"One of my reasons for hope is Pope Francis," the Englishwoman said. Because, in his position as pope, "with the whole of the Catholic Church around the world, his stand on the environment really has made a big difference."

"The other reason for hope is that the other religions too are beginning to talk about the environment more and more," she said.

"So, this really is one of the big hopes for our future. That, and more scientists are coming together to agree that there is intelligence, with a capital ‘I,' behind the creation of the universe," she said.

Founder and doctor at The Jane Goodall Institute, she first rose to fame for her groundbreaking research in the world of chimpanzees. She travelled to Tanzania in 1960 at the age of 26 to live amongst them and learn about the species up close.

Goodall spoke as part of a webinar on biological diversity titled, "The Road to COP15," which is a major UN-level conference on biodiversity scheduled to take place Oct. 11-24 in Kunming, China.

The webinar was organized by the Vatican's department for Promoting Integral Human Development, which is led by Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson, who also spoke at the event.

In her remarks during the webinar, Goodall said she learned many things about the similarities between humans and chimpanzees while conducting her field research, but one thing she also learned is that "we're different."

"Yes, they are animals that are way more intelligent than people used to think, but we designed a rocket that went up to Mars," she said. And yet, "We don't want to go and live on Mars."

"At one point, it was thought that it might support life, but we've got this one, beautiful, green and blue planet, Planet Earth, created by God," she said. "How is it possible that the most intellectual creature to ever walk on this planet is destroying its only home?" she asked.

Speaking of the coronavirus pandemic and the global damage it has wrought, Goodall argued that as a human community, "we've brought it in large part on ourselves."

The reasons for this, she said, are "our absolute disrespect of animals and our disrespect of the natural world."

In his remarks, Turkson echoed Goodall's statement that human behaviour is at least partly responsible for the onset of pandemics.

"Human beings must respect the laws of nature and the delicate equilibrium existing between creatures and the world itself," he said, saying this is also related to Catholic Church teaching "about resting on the seventh day, which is for human beings also to preserve creation."

Sources

Angelus News

These crises have been caused by the coronavirus emergency, conflict and decreased security around the globe, Vatican cardinal , Peter Turkson says.

Echoing Pope Francis, Turkson is calling for a global ceasefire during the pandemic. This way, assistance can safely be provided to those in need. especially in countries with ongoing conflict like Yemen and Venezuela.

Turkson, who is the prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, also says there is a critical need for disarmament.

The money used to finance arms should be redirected toward supporting healthcare systems instead, he suggests.

The various global crises plus the climate crisis mean "diminishing access to water, diminishing access to food, increasing social unrest, violence, breakdown of law and order, and unfortunately, the normalization of insecurity, distrust, and uncertainty," Turkson says.

"The confluence of all of these crises has engendered a veritable tsunami of humanitarian crises which has spread and spared no human life [or] institution from its disruptive consequences especially its impact on harmony and peace."

The Vatican COVID-19 Commission, which Turkson leads, includes two working groups, one of which is focusing on security, he says.

The strategies the Commission is using to appeal for a ceasefire include advocating for local peace and justice commissions, calling for reconciliation and global solidarity, and creating a "redefinition of peace."

Following the example of St. Pope John XXIII in the 1963 encyclical Pacem in terris, the Commission is framing peace in terms such as "food security," "solidarity," and an "inclusive public health system."

The Commission is also working with on-the-ground groups such as Caritas Internationalis and Sant'Egidio to help find peaceful resolutions to conflicts, Turkson says.

Sister Alessandra Smerilli, a member of the COVID-19 commission and an economics professor, spoke of the pope's request "to prepare the future and not only be prepared for the future."

Smerilli says the global economic recession is expected to displace billions of jobs. As "the pandemic knows no borders ... we need solutions without borders," she says.

The Commission's economic taskforce has been meeting each week to think about and discuss different economic issues connected to the pandemic.

Alessio Pecorario, another Commission member, says the security taskforce, which he coordinates, is the "network of the network."

He says taskforce members were working to bring together different experts and Catholic non-violence groups, to coordinate concrete proposals on the issue of peace and security.

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: World Economic Forum

"Solidarity is now more urgent than ever for reducing poverty in Europe and worldwide, especially given the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic", Caritas-Europa says.

"We urge EU member-states to unite, place common interests ahead of national interests and come to an agreement soon on the next seven-year EU budget. Millions of EU residents, as well as neighbouring and developing countries, benefit from EU funding - all of this is at risk if no agreement is reached".

US Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, agrees with Caritas's concerns and is asking Catholics from around the world to help.

The pandemic invites Catholics to listen with courage to the cry of the poor and to act in solidarity, he says.

Pope Francis describes hope and solidarity as "a new contagion", beyond the darkness of this pandemic that has "caused a lot of sorrow, broken up families, taken away dear ones", Turkson explained last week.

Turkston and two other panelists were speakers at a forum co-sponsored by Catholic Relief Services and the Georgetown University's Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life and by last week.

The forum looked at how the pandemic is affecting the world beyond the US borders, and what the US responsibilities are to other countries.

Turkson leads a new commission Francis has created to confront the challenges the world is facing in battling the coronavirus pandemic and what it will inevitably face in its aftermath.

"Pandemics do not have to break us up," Turkson said. It is time to "put together our resources" to find solutions.

Another panelist, Haydee Diaz, head of programming for Catholic Relief Services in Uganda, said American Catholics are making "an incredible difference" in the lives of the poor in Uganda and other countries in Africa and around the world.

"The poor are counting on us. They don't know where their next meal is coming from", he said.

Turkson said tcommission has five working groups.

The first is dedicated to listening to and supporting local churches. The second is focused on research and the study of the pandemic and reflecting on society and the world after the coronavirus.

Other working groups focus on communication, relations with other countries to assist and share valuable research information, and financing the commission's relief efforts.

John Carr, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life and moderator of the panel discussion, asked Turkson to tell the pope "he does not stand alone".

"We stand with him," he said.

• The Tablet
• The Tablet
• Image: Caritas

Cardinal Peter Turkson, who is the Prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, says the study would aim to ensure "the Church can take a consistent position, not only in view of the Amazon, but in view of the universal Church".

Several bishops during the Amazon synod proposed ordaining viri probati - a term used to refer to mature, married men - for ministry in remote areas of the Amazon.

Turkson says challenges in the Amazonian region are similar to challenges faced in other parts of the world, including the Congo.

In both regions "accessibility is very difficult and reduced, communication is tough, and if you want to get to places either by road or by river those challenges are there".

He says in the Congo trained catechists are leaders in their local communities, who preach the Word of God, baptize, bury the dead and serve as extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist.

"But in that case, the guys in the synod here are listening to that and they say that is fine, but they can still can't celebrate the Eucharist".

"They are looking for someone who can, you know, anoint the sick, listen to confessions, celebrate the Eucharist with people, and that, of course, requires ordained ministry, for which, the examples in Africa then come short."

Congolese Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu also sees a close comparison between the Congo River Basin and the Amazon, including several ecological, political, and pastoral problems.

He says the church in the Congo prioritized "inculturation of the Gospel" in response to a perception following the country's independence that the Church was seen as an outside force in the immediate post-colonial era.

The most evident result of inculturation in the Congo is a "ritual of the Eucharist which is our own," Besungu says.

"In our country, the Eucharist is a real feast."

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Wikipedia

He also asked for the safe return of the millions of people displaced by years of fighting, information for the families of displaced persons as to their location and conditions, the humane treatment of political prisoners and the resumption of negotiations to seek a political solution to the conflict.

Dozens of schools, rescue centers and hospitals have been destroyed in aerial bombings, with more than 500 civilians believed to have been killed so far.

Cardinal Peter Turkson who heads the Vatican's department for Promoting Integral Human Development, accompanied by Italian Cardinal Mario Zenari, the pope's ambassador in Syria, delivered the letter to Assad on Monday.

The Holy See's Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, says the letter was a humanitarian gesture urging Assad to take steps towards reconciliation.

"What is happening is intolerable and inhuman," he said.

"The Holy Father asks the President to do everything possible to put an end to this humanitarian catastrophe, in order to protect the defenceless population, especially those who are most vulnerable."

Syrian state news agency SANA says Assad had told Turkson it was important to put pressure on countries supporting terrorists, a term Damascus uses to describe the rebels seeking his downfall.

Syria's war, now in its ninth year, grew out of popular protests against Assad, devastating many towns and cities. An estimated half a million people have died in the fighting.

More than 5.6 million Syrian refugees have fled to Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt and 6.6 million have been displaced within its borders.

Francis has made the situation in Syria a top political and diplomatic priority since his election in March 2013.

Source

• CruxNow
• The Tablet
• Reuters
• Crux
• Image: The Times

The conference is entitled "Drugs and addictions, an obstacle to integral human development."

Presentations will include best practices for treatment and prevention.

The Dicastery says almost five percent of the world's population has, at some point, taken drugs.

"29.6 million of those users suffer from drug disorders. This means that their drug-taking is harmful to the point that they experience drug dependence and require treatment."

The Dicastery says another cause for alarm is that society sees many drugs as a form of leisure, recreational activity and even as a sign of wealth and status. The implications of legalising various substances, including cannabis, is included in the conference agenda.

Professor Nicolò Pisanu, President of Pontifical Salesian University's Institute of Psychopedagogical and Social Sciences and head of the "Progetto Uomo" [Human Project] of the Italian Federation of Therapeutic Communities, says there has recently been a change in the world of science when it comes to drugs.

This has seen the term "substances" change to "dependencies."

Pisanu says the reason for this change is that the type of addictions themselves have changed, and that "with new dependencies such as gambling and the internet, you can't speak about substances anymore."

"They are phenomena that bring dependency" and, because of this, there has also been a change in the type of therapeutic treatments offered to addicts.

Pisanu says conference organisers chose "the most important, the most widespread, the most concerning" of the new addictions to be the focus of the conference.

These are gambling, sex, and the internet.

Speakers at the conference include Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Italian Health Minister Giulia Grillo.

Representatives from the World Federation against Drugs, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the Carabinieri, one of Italy's police forces, are also presenting at the conference.

Source

• Crux Now
• Vatican News
• Image: Crux Now

They suggested faith groups could use their ability to mobilise people and public opinion, and lay out the moral and spiritual case for disarmament.

The Nobel laureates joined with leading Vatican and secular diplomats who urged world leaders to freeze investment in nuclear arms production.

Instead, the money should be for peace and development initiatives.

"Every day we are bombarded with bad news about the atrocities ... harming each other and nature, about the increasing drumbeat of a possible nuclear conflagration and the fact that humanity stands on the precipice of a nuclear holocaust," keynote speaker Cardinal Peter Turkson said.

Turkson, the first prefect of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, was one of many voices at the Vatican-organised meeting asking for peaceful ways to be found to resolve the world's problems.

Entitled "Prospects for a World Free from Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament," the summit drew a line-up of world leaders.

These included United Nations and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation officials, representatives from nuclear powers including Russia and the United States, as well as South Korea and Iran.

Turkston said fears of a potential global catastrophe are rising to a level not seen since the days of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In his view ongoing discussions about nuclear weapons are "critical".

He said decisions made by global leaders about peace and war in the coming months and years "will have profound consequences for the very future of humanity and our planet."

Source

• Crux
• EWTN News
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

They say his decision is a clear sign of his continued support of the fossil fuel industry which directly threatens the lives of communities living in the Pacific islands.

PICAN has demanded that Australia immediately reaffirm its commitment to the Paris Accord and begin strengthening its woefully inadequate targets.

They say it's time for Australia to follow the lead of the Pacific and stand with those on the front-lines of climate change.

In February, PICAN wrote an open letter to Patrick Suckling, the Australian Ambassador for climate change:

"Time and again, Pacific island leaders have explained that climate change is the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and well-being of the peoples of the Pacific. We must work together to tackle climate change."

"Unfortunately and there is no polite way to put this, your government is knowingly undermining our future and the future of our children.

"In full knowledge of the facts and long-term impacts, the Australian government is pressing ahead with new coal mines and coal-fired power plants."

"This directly contradicts global efforts to tackle climate change and puts our communities in peril."

This week Cardinal Peter Turkson called for a more effective and unified approach to managing, protecting, conserving and restoring marine and coastal ecosystems is needed.

He was speaking at the United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development,

"We cannot speak about marine and coastal ecosystems without considering the men and women who live there, because the human environment and the natural environment flourish or deteriorate together," said Turkson

Source

• 350pacific.org
• zenit.org
• huffingtonpost.com
• Image: Facebook.com

The conference, Wednesday, entitled "Stop threats on the internet" was organised by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

Reports of one out of three young people in Europe being cyberbullied is evidence of a "new form of violence" against young people and children, said Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council.

Despite many national and international laws and agreements, "humanity still hasn't been able to uproot completely the different forms of violence and exploitation against children," he said.

"Virtual" abuse and harassment result in real, not virtual, damage, said Fr Fortunato Di Noto.

Di Noto is an Italian priest who, for the past 25 years, has been leading the fight in Italy to protect children from online predators around the world.

Following Pope Francis' call to minister at the periphery, Di Noto suggests the Church needs to go to the virtual peripheries and meet those who are hurting.

Founding 'Meter', his association has created a tent church in dark places in the digital world.

'Meter' finds people who, while inflicting pain on others, are looking for affection, meaning in life or trying to work out their own pain, Di Noto says.

"We have to make sure that these places of emotional destitution, these new digital peripheries that I would call 'digital slums,' can be made habitable" because places that lack all forms of compassion and human connection attract ravenous "vultures," he said.

Di Noto's ministry offers "real accompaniment on the Internet because there are many people who are in need because they 'live' in this place every day."

"The problem isn't Internet, the problem is the human being," he said.

Di Noto said Meter's annual school-based educational campaign this year will include giving children a 10-point guide to online safety and a plastic ruler to underline that there are rules in life that need to be followed.

Sources

• Vatican.va
• CNS
• Image: Bangor Daily News

Yet whenever the church tries to say something on economics, it faces a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" dilemma about whether or not to get concrete.

If the church sticks to abstract principles, it's accused of being pie in the sky and irrelevant. If it endorses specific policy proposals, it's accused of exceeding its competence, blurring the lines between church and state, and confusing prudential judgment with dogmatic certainty.

Too much specificity courts other risks too:

• Ideological criticism from the left or the right, depending upon whose ox is being gored. (A variant is ideological cherry-picking; sort of like Kennedy and the Khrushchev letter, both conservatives and liberals tend to focus on what they like in Catholic social teaching and pretend the other stuff doesn't exist.)
• Media focus on the most sensational policy stance, usually distorting the big picture. (Remember reaction to Benedict XVI's call for global governance in his 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate? To read paranoid anti-globalist blogs, you might have started scanning the horizon for black helicopters bearing the papal coat of arms.)

Given that this briar patch seems basically unavoidable, what's the church to do? As it happens, a new document from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, entitled "Vocation of the Business Leader", hints at an intriguing solution.

In a sound-bite, the idea is to be didactic on principle but interrogatory on policy. The church may not have to offer specific answers; perhaps it's enough to frame the right questions. Think of it as Catholic social teaching, Socrates-style.

The 32-page document is designed as a vade-mecum, or practical handbook, for business leaders trying to integrate their faith with their work. It was presented on March 30 by Cardinal Peter Turkson, a Ghanian who serves as president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, at an assembly of 2,000 Catholic businesspeople in Lyon, France. Continue reading

Sources

• John L Allen Jr. in National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Catholic News Agency