RADIO VATICANA REPORT:
During the Sunday Angelus, Pope Benedict spoke about the parables of Christ in
the day’s Gospel. The parable of the seed that grows while the farmer sleeps
“refers to the mystery of creation and redemption, the fruitful work of God in
history.” In the parable, the Pope said, the final harvest reminds us of the
full realization of God’s Kingdom at the end of time. “The present time is the
time of sowing, and the Lord ensures the growth of the seed. Every Christian,
then, knows that he must do all he can, but that the final results depend on
God. This knowledge will sustain his daily labours, especially in difficult
situations.”
In his remarks to English speaking pilgrims, the Holy Father highlighted the Lord’s parable of the mustard seed: “In today’s Gospel,” he said, “the Lord teaches us that God’s kingdom is like a tiny mustard seed which becomes the largest of shrubs. Let us fervently pray that God may take our weak but sincere desires and transform them into great works of love for him and our neighbour.”
After leading the crowds in the recitation of the Angelus, Pope Benedict noted the upcoming, UN-sponsored World Refugee Day, taking place Wednesday June 20. The day is dedicated to calling attention to “the conditions of many people, especially families, forced to flee their lands, because of threats of armed conflicts and serious forms of violence.” The Holy Father assured refugees of his prayers and of his constant concern for them, and expressed the hope that their rights would be respected and that they would be quickly reunited with their families.
The Pope also spoke about the International Eucharistic Congress, concluding today in Dublin, Ireland. Reflecting on the presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the altar, he said “In the mystery of the Eucharist Jesus wanted to stay with us, for us to enter into communion with Him and among ourselves.”
Finally, Pope Benedict joyfully called to mind the beatification of Eusepi Cecilia, taking place Sunday afternoon. Eusepi, who died at the age of 18, “lived with unwavering faith, displaying great ability to offer sacrifices for the salvation of souls.” The Holy Father recalled that “in the last days of her life, in profound union with Christ Crucified, she repeated ‘It is good to give oneself for Christ, who has given everything for us’.”
Finally, the Holy Father greeted pilgrims and visitors from around the world in various languages, wishing them a happy Sunday, and leaving them with his “abundant blessing.”
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
In his remarks to English speaking pilgrims, the Holy Father highlighted the Lord’s parable of the mustard seed: “In today’s Gospel,” he said, “the Lord teaches us that God’s kingdom is like a tiny mustard seed which becomes the largest of shrubs. Let us fervently pray that God may take our weak but sincere desires and transform them into great works of love for him and our neighbour.”
After leading the crowds in the recitation of the Angelus, Pope Benedict noted the upcoming, UN-sponsored World Refugee Day, taking place Wednesday June 20. The day is dedicated to calling attention to “the conditions of many people, especially families, forced to flee their lands, because of threats of armed conflicts and serious forms of violence.” The Holy Father assured refugees of his prayers and of his constant concern for them, and expressed the hope that their rights would be respected and that they would be quickly reunited with their families.
The Pope also spoke about the International Eucharistic Congress, concluding today in Dublin, Ireland. Reflecting on the presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the altar, he said “In the mystery of the Eucharist Jesus wanted to stay with us, for us to enter into communion with Him and among ourselves.”
Finally, Pope Benedict joyfully called to mind the beatification of Eusepi Cecilia, taking place Sunday afternoon. Eusepi, who died at the age of 18, “lived with unwavering faith, displaying great ability to offer sacrifices for the salvation of souls.” The Holy Father recalled that “in the last days of her life, in profound union with Christ Crucified, she repeated ‘It is good to give oneself for Christ, who has given everything for us’.”
Finally, the Holy Father greeted pilgrims and visitors from around the world in various languages, wishing them a happy Sunday, and leaving them with his “abundant blessing.”
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
EUROPE : EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS CLOSING BY ARCHBISHOP
IEC RELEASE:
Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin
One week ago we set out on a journey of prayer and reflection, of song and silence, of renewal of our hearts and renewal of our Church. In these eight days the Eucharist has awakened in our hearts something which went way beyond our plans and expectations.
The Eucharist has been the nourishment of the extraordinary sense of our communion with one another which those of us who have been in the RDS and are here today have experienced. We have experienced the communion of the Church. We have been enriched by our sharing with those who have joined us from over 120 countries. We have been joined by individuals, parish groups, and diocesan pilgrimages from all over Ireland. We have come as bishops and priests, deacons, religious men and women, families, lay people who animate much of our parish life, young people and children. Catholic communities right across Ireland, and with them many communities of other Christian denominations, have been praying with and for this event.
We are grateful for his presence here today of the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, along with public figures from North and South.
We thank God for the experience of these days. We experienced the presence of Jesus with us in the Eucharist and the power of the Eucharist spread through every aspect of our assembly. We thank all those who contributed to this great event. We thank Father Kevin Doran, the General Secretary and his team for the extraordinary organisation; we thank Father Damian McNiece who prepared all the liturgies and his team who coordinated them. We thank the various choirs from all over Ireland. We thank the volunteers who made us welcome and assisted us and kept us in good cheer. We thank those who spoke at the various events. We thank those who celebrated our liturgies and those who ensured vital moments of silent prayer and adoration.
We thank Cardinal Marc Ouellet most sincerely for his tireless work during these days in Dublin, at Lough Derg and in Knock. We express through you our affection and loyalty and gratitude to Pope Benedict XVI and you can assure him of the prayers of all of us.
Our prayers and support go to the city and the diocese which will host the 51st International Eucharist Congress: Cebu City in the Philippines. We pray that the Congress will bring the same special blessing to that city and diocese and nation as this Congress has brought to Dublin and Ireland. I am told that in the monsoon season you can produce rain storms which equal or even surpass the ones we experienced in these last days.
The 50th International Eucharistic Congress was not just a seven-day event. Over the past year a great deal of catechesis has been carried out across Ireland in preparation for this week. Tomorrow we must start our catechesis anew to prolong the fruits of this Eucharistic Congress through a dynamic of New Evangelization. The extraordinary interest that was shown in these days for the workshops and catecheses of the Congress tells us just how much thirst there is in our Catholic community to deepen the understanding of our faith.
In my service at the Holy See I was privileged to work alongside two extraordinary superiors. One was a Polish Bishop, who in the early days of the Second World War, then a young Deacon, was arrested and interned for the entire period of the War in Dachau where he was the object of horrendous medical experiments. The other was a Vietnamese cardinal who was held in prison camps, often in total isolation, or under house arrest for over eleven years. Both had remarkable stories to tell of their ordeal, but the most striking thing that both spoke about was the Eucharist. Both told of the extraordinary lengths they went to in order to be able to celebrate or participate in the Eucharist in secret and how it was the Eucharist which gave them gave them courage and hope in the darkest of days. They spoke of the sadness they experienced on the days and months when it was not possible to experience the nourishment of the Eucharist.
We must go away from here with a renewed passion for the Eucharist. We must go away with a renewed love the Church. We must go away from here wanting to tell others not just about the Congress, but about Jesus Christ himself who in giving himself in sacrifice revealed to us that God is love. In the Eucharist we are captured into that self-giving love and are empowered to be loving people.
We go away deepened in our faith. In October next, Pope Benedict will inaugurate the Year of Faith. His words about that year can be a programme for us as we move forward from this Eucharistic Congress: "We want this Year to arouse in every believer the aspiration to profess the faith in fullness and with renewed conviction, with confidence and hope"; to intensify the celebration of the faith in the liturgy, especially in the Eucharist...; to ensure that believers' witness of life may grow in credibility; to rediscover the content of the faith that is professed, celebrated, lived and prayed.
In our prayers in these days we have kept in our prayers and in our hearts all those who suffered criminal abuse within the community of Christ's Church and all those who feel in any way alienated from the Church and who have not experienced in our Church the love of Jesus Christ. We go away from here committed to build a Church of communion and service after the model of Jesus Christ. It is Jesus himself who will renew his Church. It is Jesus present in the Eucharist who will be food for the journey of purification and renewal to which we commit ourselves as we leave this Fiftieth International Eucharistic Congress strengthened in our desire to deepen our Communion with Christ and communion with one another.
SHARED FROM IEC
Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin
One week ago we set out on a journey of prayer and reflection, of song and silence, of renewal of our hearts and renewal of our Church. In these eight days the Eucharist has awakened in our hearts something which went way beyond our plans and expectations.
The Eucharist has been the nourishment of the extraordinary sense of our communion with one another which those of us who have been in the RDS and are here today have experienced. We have experienced the communion of the Church. We have been enriched by our sharing with those who have joined us from over 120 countries. We have been joined by individuals, parish groups, and diocesan pilgrimages from all over Ireland. We have come as bishops and priests, deacons, religious men and women, families, lay people who animate much of our parish life, young people and children. Catholic communities right across Ireland, and with them many communities of other Christian denominations, have been praying with and for this event.
We are grateful for his presence here today of the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, along with public figures from North and South.
We thank God for the experience of these days. We experienced the presence of Jesus with us in the Eucharist and the power of the Eucharist spread through every aspect of our assembly. We thank all those who contributed to this great event. We thank Father Kevin Doran, the General Secretary and his team for the extraordinary organisation; we thank Father Damian McNiece who prepared all the liturgies and his team who coordinated them. We thank the various choirs from all over Ireland. We thank the volunteers who made us welcome and assisted us and kept us in good cheer. We thank those who spoke at the various events. We thank those who celebrated our liturgies and those who ensured vital moments of silent prayer and adoration.
We thank Cardinal Marc Ouellet most sincerely for his tireless work during these days in Dublin, at Lough Derg and in Knock. We express through you our affection and loyalty and gratitude to Pope Benedict XVI and you can assure him of the prayers of all of us.
Our prayers and support go to the city and the diocese which will host the 51st International Eucharist Congress: Cebu City in the Philippines. We pray that the Congress will bring the same special blessing to that city and diocese and nation as this Congress has brought to Dublin and Ireland. I am told that in the monsoon season you can produce rain storms which equal or even surpass the ones we experienced in these last days.
The 50th International Eucharistic Congress was not just a seven-day event. Over the past year a great deal of catechesis has been carried out across Ireland in preparation for this week. Tomorrow we must start our catechesis anew to prolong the fruits of this Eucharistic Congress through a dynamic of New Evangelization. The extraordinary interest that was shown in these days for the workshops and catecheses of the Congress tells us just how much thirst there is in our Catholic community to deepen the understanding of our faith.
In my service at the Holy See I was privileged to work alongside two extraordinary superiors. One was a Polish Bishop, who in the early days of the Second World War, then a young Deacon, was arrested and interned for the entire period of the War in Dachau where he was the object of horrendous medical experiments. The other was a Vietnamese cardinal who was held in prison camps, often in total isolation, or under house arrest for over eleven years. Both had remarkable stories to tell of their ordeal, but the most striking thing that both spoke about was the Eucharist. Both told of the extraordinary lengths they went to in order to be able to celebrate or participate in the Eucharist in secret and how it was the Eucharist which gave them gave them courage and hope in the darkest of days. They spoke of the sadness they experienced on the days and months when it was not possible to experience the nourishment of the Eucharist.
We must go away from here with a renewed passion for the Eucharist. We must go away with a renewed love the Church. We must go away from here wanting to tell others not just about the Congress, but about Jesus Christ himself who in giving himself in sacrifice revealed to us that God is love. In the Eucharist we are captured into that self-giving love and are empowered to be loving people.
We go away deepened in our faith. In October next, Pope Benedict will inaugurate the Year of Faith. His words about that year can be a programme for us as we move forward from this Eucharistic Congress: "We want this Year to arouse in every believer the aspiration to profess the faith in fullness and with renewed conviction, with confidence and hope"; to intensify the celebration of the faith in the liturgy, especially in the Eucharist...; to ensure that believers' witness of life may grow in credibility; to rediscover the content of the faith that is professed, celebrated, lived and prayed.
In our prayers in these days we have kept in our prayers and in our hearts all those who suffered criminal abuse within the community of Christ's Church and all those who feel in any way alienated from the Church and who have not experienced in our Church the love of Jesus Christ. We go away from here committed to build a Church of communion and service after the model of Jesus Christ. It is Jesus himself who will renew his Church. It is Jesus present in the Eucharist who will be food for the journey of purification and renewal to which we commit ourselves as we leave this Fiftieth International Eucharistic Congress strengthened in our desire to deepen our Communion with Christ and communion with one another.
SHARED FROM IEC
AMERICA : BISHOPS ENCOURAGE DREAM YOUTH ACT
USCCB RELEASE:
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops welcomed the action of President Barack Obama today to defer action to all young people eligible under the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, saying that it would permit young people who were brought into the United States undocumented to come out of the shadows and more fully participate in society.
“This important action will provide legal protection, and work authorization, to a vulnerable group of immigrants who are deserving of remaining in our country and contributing their talents to our communities,”said Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration.“These youth are bright, energetic, and eager to pursue their education and reach their full potential.”
As many as 800,000 young people would be eligible to receive a deferred action on deportation for two years, and a work permit.
Archbishop Gomez said the President’s action is no substitute for passage of the DREAM Act and encouraged Congress to enact comprehensive and humane immigration reform.
Full text of Archbishop Gomez’s statement follows:
This important action will provide protection from removal and work authorization for a vulnerable group of immigrants who deserve to remain in our country and contribute their talents to our communities.
These youth are bright, energetic, and eager to pursue their education and reach their full potential.They did not enter our nation on their own volition, but rather came to the United States with their parents as children, something all of us would do.
We call upon the President also to review Administration deportation policies and more aggressively pursue the policy of prosecutorial discretion for other populations, a policy which was announced last year.Families continue to be deported and separated, causing undue suffering.
The action by the President today is no substitute for enactment of the DREAM Act in Congress.We encourage our elected officials of both parties to take this opportunity to work together to enact this important law, which would give these youth a path to citizenship and a chance to become Americans.We also renew our call for bipartisan efforts to enact comprehensive and humane reform our nation’s broken immigration system
---SHARED FROM USCCB
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops welcomed the action of President Barack Obama today to defer action to all young people eligible under the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, saying that it would permit young people who were brought into the United States undocumented to come out of the shadows and more fully participate in society.
“This important action will provide legal protection, and work authorization, to a vulnerable group of immigrants who are deserving of remaining in our country and contributing their talents to our communities,”said Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration.“These youth are bright, energetic, and eager to pursue their education and reach their full potential.”
As many as 800,000 young people would be eligible to receive a deferred action on deportation for two years, and a work permit.
Archbishop Gomez said the President’s action is no substitute for passage of the DREAM Act and encouraged Congress to enact comprehensive and humane immigration reform.
Full text of Archbishop Gomez’s statement follows:
Statement of Most Reverend Jose H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles
Chairman, USCCB Committee on Migration
On
The Announcement of Deferred Action for DREAM eligible
youth
June 15, 2012
On behalf of the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), I welcome the announcement by President
Obama today that, consistent with his executive authority, he will grant
deferred action on a case-by-case basisto youth who entered the United States by
age 15 and have not committed certain offenses.Many of these youthwould qualify
for immigration relief under the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien
Minors (DREAM) Act.This important action will provide protection from removal and work authorization for a vulnerable group of immigrants who deserve to remain in our country and contribute their talents to our communities.
These youth are bright, energetic, and eager to pursue their education and reach their full potential.They did not enter our nation on their own volition, but rather came to the United States with their parents as children, something all of us would do.
We call upon the President also to review Administration deportation policies and more aggressively pursue the policy of prosecutorial discretion for other populations, a policy which was announced last year.Families continue to be deported and separated, causing undue suffering.
The action by the President today is no substitute for enactment of the DREAM Act in Congress.We encourage our elected officials of both parties to take this opportunity to work together to enact this important law, which would give these youth a path to citizenship and a chance to become Americans.We also renew our call for bipartisan efforts to enact comprehensive and humane reform our nation’s broken immigration system
---SHARED FROM USCCB
AUSTRALIA : ORDINATION OF FR. HARRY ENTWISTLE
ARCHDIOCESE OF PERTH RELEASE: 16 Jun 2012
Article and Photo by Fr R Cross
The Most Reverend Timothy Costelloe
SDB, Archbishop of Perth, ordained to the Priesthood on Friday 15 June in St
Mary's Cathedral Perth the Very Reverend Harry Entwistle.
Above: Bishop Geoffrey Jarrett, Bishop
Peter Elliott, Fr Harry Entwistle, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe and Bishop
Donald Sproxton
Also present at the ordination were
Bishop Geoffrey Jarrett of the Lismore Diocese, Bishop Peter Elliot, Auxiliary
Bishop of Melbourne, Bishop Donald Sproxton, many clergy of the Archdiocese of
Perth as well as family and friends of the newly ordained Fr Entwistle.
Traditional Anglican Community Archbishop, the Most Reverend John Hepworth, was
also present in the congregation and later expressed his goodwill and support
and said he looked forward to the day when the Church would be without division
and speak with the one voice of Christ.
Immediately prior to the Ordination
Mass, approximately 40 members of the Traditional Anglican Community were
received into the Catholic Church by Monsignor Kevin Long. These and many of
their friends were also present at the ordination Mass. Fr Entwistle was himself
received into the Church at St Charles Seminary last Sunday, where he was also
ordained a Deacon by Archbishop Costelloe.
The significance of the ordination
Mass was added to when the Most Rev Peter Elliott rose after Communion and read
the Decree of the Erection of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross,
under the patronage of St Augustine of Canterbury, issued by the Congregation of
Doctrine and Faith on the 15 June 2012.
Bishop Elliott was particularly
pleased to be present and read the Decree of Erection as he has worked
assiduously as the project delegate for the Australian
Catholic Bishops' Conference and the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith to prepare the way for the erection of the Ordinariate.
After the announcement of the
Ordinariate, Archbishop Costelloe was pleased to read a Decree from Pope
Benedict XVI announcing that the Very Reverend Father Harry Entwistle had been
appointed the Ordinary of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross by
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. This announcement was greeted with great joy by
the new members of the Ordinariate. Fr
Entwistle will be based in Perth but will be responsible for the Ordinariate
throughout Australia.
In a media statement prior to the
Ordination, Archbishop Costelloe said he welcomed the announcement of the establishment of the
Ordinariate for groups of Anglicans who wish to enter into full communion with
the Catholic Church while retaining elements of their own Anglican patrimony.
Archbishop Costelloe said, “Those people from the
Anglican tradition who have decided to avail themselves of the opportunity
afforded to them by Pope Benedict XV1 have done so after a long period of
careful and prayerful discernment.”
“The Catholic community will welcome them with great
joy and generosity of spirit. We look forward to fully sharing with them the
richness of our faith. At the same time we hope to gain from the witness of
their own faith and the beauty of their liturgical and spiritual traditions,
which they will bring with them.”
SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF PERTH
+ + +
AFRICA : EGYPT : DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT RULING
CISA REPORT:
CAIRO, June 15, 2012 (CISA) -On the eve of the June 16 presidential runoff, the Egyptian Constitutional Court ruling that declared unconstitutional all the articles of the electoral law with which the People’s Assembly (the lower House of the Egyptian Parliament) in a series of election rounds held between November 28, 2011 and January 11, 2012 has caused a stir.
The Vice President of the Court, Maher Sami, clarified that the verdict entails the dissolution of all the Assembly even if the laws so far approved will remain in force.
“The Egyptian society seems to be divided into two camps: the liberals support the decision of the Constitutional Court to dissolve Parliament, since it is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis. The Islamists are contrary and, especially the Salafis, that have stated they are ready to occupy Tahrir Square if the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCARF) organizes fraud in the second round of the presidential elections “says to Fides Fr Rafic Greiche, a Greek-Catholic priest, director of communications for the Catholic Bishops of Egypt.
“I think that among the common people there is a sense of relief because somehow there is a need to correct the mistakes made in the past year and a half after Mubarak’s fall” continued Fr Greiche. “This is because right from the beginning the military relied on the Muslim Brotherhood to discover that their interests diverged. Now this covenant is broken and has created animosity between the two parties.”
The revolution in 2011, which ousted Mubarak, was intended to put an end to the regime in which the military was the backbone. Regarding the position of liberals and revolutionaries in this clash between military forces and Islamist, Fr Greiche responded “A lot of liberals now support the military as anti Brotherhood. The revolutionaries of Tahrir Square are themselves divided, because each has its own political vision: there are those close to the Islamists, others have more liberal views and others above all desire to get rid of the military rule in Egyptian society.”
SHARED FROM CISA NEWS
CAIRO, June 15, 2012 (CISA) -On the eve of the June 16 presidential runoff, the Egyptian Constitutional Court ruling that declared unconstitutional all the articles of the electoral law with which the People’s Assembly (the lower House of the Egyptian Parliament) in a series of election rounds held between November 28, 2011 and January 11, 2012 has caused a stir.
The Vice President of the Court, Maher Sami, clarified that the verdict entails the dissolution of all the Assembly even if the laws so far approved will remain in force.
“The Egyptian society seems to be divided into two camps: the liberals support the decision of the Constitutional Court to dissolve Parliament, since it is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis. The Islamists are contrary and, especially the Salafis, that have stated they are ready to occupy Tahrir Square if the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCARF) organizes fraud in the second round of the presidential elections “says to Fides Fr Rafic Greiche, a Greek-Catholic priest, director of communications for the Catholic Bishops of Egypt.
“I think that among the common people there is a sense of relief because somehow there is a need to correct the mistakes made in the past year and a half after Mubarak’s fall” continued Fr Greiche. “This is because right from the beginning the military relied on the Muslim Brotherhood to discover that their interests diverged. Now this covenant is broken and has created animosity between the two parties.”
The revolution in 2011, which ousted Mubarak, was intended to put an end to the regime in which the military was the backbone. Regarding the position of liberals and revolutionaries in this clash between military forces and Islamist, Fr Greiche responded “A lot of liberals now support the military as anti Brotherhood. The revolutionaries of Tahrir Square are themselves divided, because each has its own political vision: there are those close to the Islamists, others have more liberal views and others above all desire to get rid of the military rule in Egyptian society.”
SHARED FROM CISA NEWS
ASIA : KOREA : SIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION NEEDED
UCAN REPORT:
More must be
done to help deaf and mute students in schools, they say
Rally participants in Seoul call for sign language
to be named an official second language in high schools
A coalition of advocacy groups for disabled people yesterday rallied in the
capital to urge the government to implement the teaching of sign language in the
national curriculum as an official second language.
Park Kyung-seok, president of Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, told a crowd of about 50 people at the rally that the Education Ministry said sign language should be treated as any other language.
“As we learn English to talk with American people, we need to learn sign language to help us communicate with deaf and mute people [in our own country],” he said.
In South Korean high schools, English is taught as a mandatory “first foreign language,” while students are also asked to choose a second language from a group that includes Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and several European languages.
The coalition of advocates further urged the ministry to provide schools with sign language translators to better serve disabled students.
Park Heung-ki, president of the Daejeon Dream Center, told rally participants about a case in a primary school in Daejeon, where two deaf and mute students must attend courses without adequate translation services because of a lack of funding resources.
Park Hwan-ik, principal of the Daejeon Seongnam Elementary School, said yesterday that he hoped to find better trained translators but that he faces limitations under current educational legislation.
Current law stipulates that sign language translators are classified as assistant teachers, paid at a lower wage and lack long-term contracts.
A further problem is the availability of suitably trained translators.
The Korea Association for the Deaf, meanwhile, has said it will petition for a new law on sign language at the National Assembly that, if passed, would improve training of translators and make them more widely available.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare also announced yesterday that beginning in August, an amended law would stipulate that all public institutions and theaters with more than 1,000 seats would be required to provide sign language services or other special services to disabled people.
SHARED FROM UCAN NEWS
Park Kyung-seok, president of Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, told a crowd of about 50 people at the rally that the Education Ministry said sign language should be treated as any other language.
“As we learn English to talk with American people, we need to learn sign language to help us communicate with deaf and mute people [in our own country],” he said.
In South Korean high schools, English is taught as a mandatory “first foreign language,” while students are also asked to choose a second language from a group that includes Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and several European languages.
The coalition of advocates further urged the ministry to provide schools with sign language translators to better serve disabled students.
Park Heung-ki, president of the Daejeon Dream Center, told rally participants about a case in a primary school in Daejeon, where two deaf and mute students must attend courses without adequate translation services because of a lack of funding resources.
Park Hwan-ik, principal of the Daejeon Seongnam Elementary School, said yesterday that he hoped to find better trained translators but that he faces limitations under current educational legislation.
Current law stipulates that sign language translators are classified as assistant teachers, paid at a lower wage and lack long-term contracts.
A further problem is the availability of suitably trained translators.
The Korea Association for the Deaf, meanwhile, has said it will petition for a new law on sign language at the National Assembly that, if passed, would improve training of translators and make them more widely available.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare also announced yesterday that beginning in August, an amended law would stipulate that all public institutions and theaters with more than 1,000 seats would be required to provide sign language services or other special services to disabled people.
SHARED FROM UCAN NEWS
TODAY'S MASS ONLINE : 11TH SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME JUNE 17, 2012
Jun 17, 2012 - 11th Sun Ordinary Time
| Ezekiel
17: 22 - 24
| |
| 22 | Thus says the Lord GOD: "I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it out; I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it upon a high and lofty mountain; |
| 23 | on the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bring forth boughs and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar; and under it will dwell all kinds of beasts; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. |
| 24 | And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it." |
| Psalms
92: 2 - 3, 13 - 16
| |
| 2 | to declare thy steadfast love in the morning, and thy faithfulness by night, |
| 3 | to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. |
| 13 | They are planted in the house of the LORD, they flourish in the courts of our God. |
| 14 | They still bring forth fruit in old age, they are ever full of sap and green, |
| 15 | to show that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. |
| 2
Corinthians 5: 6 - 10
| |
| 6 | So we are always of good courage; we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, |
| 7 | for we walk by faith, not by sight. |
| 8 | We are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. |
| 9 | So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. |
| 10 | For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body. |
| Mark
4: 26 - 34
| |
| 26 | And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground, |
| 27 | and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how. |
| 28 | The earth produces of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. |
| 29 | But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." |
| 30 | And he said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? |
| 31 | It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; |
| 32 | yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade." |
| 33 | With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; |
| 34 | he did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything. |
TODAY'S SAINT : JUNE 17 : ST. AVITUS
St. Avitus
ABBOT
Feast: June 17
|
Information:
|
|
ST. AVITUS was a native of
Orleans, and, retiring into Auvergne, took the monastic habit, together with St.
Calais, in the abbey of Menat, at that time very small, though afterward
enriched by Queen Brunehault, and by St. Boner, Bishop of Clermont. The two
Saints soon after returned to Miscy, a famous abbey situated a league and a half
below Orleans. It was founded toward the end of the reign of Clovis I. by St.
Euspicius, a holy priest, honored on the 14th of June, and his nephew St.
Maximin or Mesnim, whose name this monastery, which is now of the Cistercian
Order, bears. Many call St. Maximin the first abbot, others St. Euspicius the
first, St. Maximin the second, and St. Avitus the third. But our Saint and St.
Calais made not a long stay at Miscy, though St. Maximin gave them a gracious
reception. In quest of a closer retirement, St. Avitus, who had succeeded St.
Maximin, soon after resigned the abbacy, and with St. Calais lived a recluse in
the territory now called Dunois, on the frontiers of La Perche. Others joining
them, St. Calais retired into a forest in Maine, and King Clotaire built a
church and monastery for St. Avitus and his companions. This is at present a
Benedictine nunnery, called St. Avy of Chateaudun, and is situated on the Loire,
at the foot of the hill on which the town of Chateaudun is built, in the diocese
of Chartres. Three famous monks, Leobin, afterwards Bishop of Chartres,
Euphronius, and Rusticus, attended our Saint to his happy death, which happened
about the year 530. His body was carried to Orleans, and buried with great pomp
in that city.
(Taken from Lives of the Saints, by Alban
Butler)
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SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/A/stavitus.asp#ixzz1y4EHatSf
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