The Catholic Weekly 28 June 2020

15 28, June, 2020 catholicweekly.com.au WORLD AUSTRALIA’S NEXT papal advisor on child protection, former WA Supreme Court judge Neville Owen, says that while he feels “a little daunt- ed” by the task ahead he is confident his experience and insights from the Royal Com- mission into Institutional Re- THE INTERNATIONAL char- ity organisation of the Catho- lic Bishops of England and Wales haswarned that Yemen’s health care system, already rav- aged by five years of civil war, is collapsing and its people risk famine as the Arabian Penin- sula’s poorest country strug- gles with the coronavirus pan- demic. CAFOD’s warning echoes those of other agencies work- ing in the war-torn cuontry. “Yemen is desperate for peace,” Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in which 24 million people have no choice but to depend on in- ternational aid. A 2 June donors’ pledging conference raised only a little over half of the A$3.51 billion needed to cover essential aid until the year end, leaving a gap of more than A$1.5 billion. “Humanitarian agencies are running out of money and COVID is spreading. Millions of people who depend on food aid and the health services ... to fight cholera and malaria are now hanging by a thread,” Grande said. “There’s only one answer – thewar needs to stop.” Yemen’s civil war has left more than 100,000 dead and displaced 4million people. The UN said nearly 80 per cent of Yemenis need aid be- cause millions are homeless, malnourished, or have cholera and dengue fever. Josie O’Reilly, emergency response officer for CAFOD, the Catholic international de- velopment charity in England and Wales, said that despite ¾ ¾ Dale Gavlak A child wearing a protective mask look out the window of his home in Sanaa, Yemen, in June during the COVID-19 pandemic. PHOTO: CNS/KHALED ABDULLAH, REUTERS continued fighting and dis- ease, the agency “is still able to respond in Yemen, with an aid partner that cannot be named for security reasons.” “Working with CAFOD, emergency cash is given to the most vulnerable families who simply cannot afford to buy food,” the partner agency in Yemen told CAFOD. AYemeni family’sminimum food needs increased “expo- nentially over the last month, in some places up to 24 per cent” due to widespread infla- tion from the pandemic’s glob- al economic shock. “Basic foods are fast becom- ing inaccessible for vulnerable families, as prices continue to increase,” said CAFOD’s part- ner agency. “In Abyan, (Yemen’s south- ern) region where CAFOD supports our work, there are very high numbers of internal- ly displaced people because of the ongoing conflict, but also because of severe flooding in April. To mitigate the risk rep- resented by the movement of people, the government of Yemen has asked for support in creating isolation centres,” the partner agency added. “The moment we were real- lyworried about is finally here,” Sultana Begum of the Norwe- gianRefugeeCouncil toldCNS. “We’re starting to see the number of (COVID-19) cases in Yemen increasing, acceler- ating fast and aggressively.This is happening already on top of an immensely terrible human- itarian situation and is only making things worse.” Begum said many hospitals have shut, while others refused to take patients and staff lack protective gear. “There is a shortage of ICU beds and test- ing kits. Yemen needs 9million testing kits, and there is just not enough of anything right now, so this is anextremely concern- ing situation.” “Some of the most vulner- able at the highest risk of con- tracting this virus are the dis- placed living in overcrowded camps without access to water, health care, a lot of services that are very vital at the mo- ment,” Begumexplained. “Butmany aremoreworried about starving and going hun- gry than the threat that COV- ID-19 presents to them.” Grande warned that the death toll from Yemen’s pan- demic could “exceed the combined toll of war, disease, and hunger over the last five years.” That could be over 230,000 deaths, according to a UN-commissioned report from the University of Denver. Across the Gulf of Aden, in Somalia, Caritas Internation- alis has delivered aid to help the country’s response to the pandemic as the government continues to confront the al- Shabaab extremists insurgen- cy. The organisation has fi- nanced two donations of med- ical supplies in Garowe and Mogadishu, the capital, and hygienic material to 150 fami- lies and Ethiopian migrants in Basaso, Sara Ben Rached, Cari- tas Somalia director, said. “The materials were made up of personal protective equipment and medical in- struments,” Rached said. She said another shipment of med- ical supplies was expected. According to the official, al- Shabaab, the al-Qaida affiliate in East Africa, has continued to threaten government workers responding to the pandemic, destroying hand-washing sta- tions and blocking sanitisation efforts while keeping mosques open and allowing public gath- erings without social distance practices. - CNS AMONG THE many titles un- der which Catholics invoke Mary in prayer and devotion, Pope Francis has asked them to add “Mother of Mercy,” “Mother of Hope” and “Com- fort of Migrants.” Cardinal Robert Sarah, pre- fect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sac- raments, sent a letter to the presidents of bishops’ confer- ences around the world ask- ing that the titles be inserted into the “Litany of the Blessed VirginMary,” more commonly known as the “Litany of Lore- to.” The litany, which begins by invoking God’s mercy, then turns to Mary, asking for her prayers. Pope adds three titles toMarian Litany Then-Pope Benedict XVI prays in 2012 in the house at Loreto tradi- tionally venerated as Mary’s at Nazareth. PHOTO: L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO Working with CAFOD, emer- gency cash is given to the most vulnerable families who simply cannot afford to buy food.” Partner agency in Yemen The Litany of Loreto trac- es its origins back to the 16th century and already had close to 50 titles for Mary with vers- es like “Holy Mother of God, pray for us” and “Queen of All Saints, pray for us.” Cardinal Sarah’s letter, re- leased on 20 June by the Vat- ican, said, “The church, which walks along the pathways of history as a pilgrim toward the heavenly Jerusalem and en- joys inseparable communion with Christ her spouse and saviour,” entrusts itself to the intercession of Mary, “who believed in the word of the Lord.” “We know from the Gos- pel that the disciples of Jesus had, in fact, learned from the very beginning to praise her as ‘blessed amongst women’ and to count on her maternal intercession,” he said. The titles for referring to and seeking assistance from Mary are “innumerable,” the cardinal said, but the pope wanted formally to recognise more of them. “Mother of Mercy,” he said, should follow “Mother of the Church” in the litany, then comes “Mother of Divine Grace” and the insertion of “Mother of Hope.” Further down, after in- voking Mary as “Health of the Sick” and as “Refuge of Sinners,” he said, Catholics should add “Comfort of Mi- grants.” - CNS In brief Israel warning Last Kennedy Benedict returns THE ISRAELI “military occupation of Palestine” is the “root cause” of the continuing Israeli-Pales- tinian conflict, said three retired Christian leaders. The statement – re- leased amid growing tensions over Israel’s US-sanctioned bid to officially annex parts of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley – was signed by retired Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, retired Anglican Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal and retired Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan. The three leaders called on Israel to “defuse the tension and comply with UN resolutions,” which recognise Israel and Palestine existing side by side. - CNS JEAN KENNEDY Smith, a diplomat, humanitar- ian and author and the last surviving sibling of the late President John F. Kennedy, died on 17 June at her home in Manhat- tan. She was 92. She was appointed as ambassador to Ireland in 1993 and held the post until 1998. During her tenure as ambassador, she played a role in the Northern Ire- land peace process. RETIRED POPE Benedict XVI returned to the Vati- can on 22 June, five days after flying to Germany to spend time with his ail- ing, 96-year-old brother. During his last morn- ing in Regensburg, the 93-year-old retired pope visited his brother, Mons Georg Ratzinger, one last time before being driven to the airport in Munich. Mons Ratzinger was director of the renowned Regensburg boys’ choir from 1964 to 1994, when he retired. Markus Soder, minister-president of Ba- varia, was at the airport to say farewell to the retired pope, who was flown to G rmany June 18 aboard an Italian air force jet. Soder tweeted two p o- tographs and said saying farewell was emotional. Agencies plead for Yemen Millionsat riskof famineand COVIDinwar-tornnation