A European bishops’ commission has welcomed a move by the European Parliament to classify atrocities and religious cleansing by ISIS as genocide. Fr Patrick Daly, general secretary of Comece, the Commission of the Bishops’ Conference of the European Community, said the designation represented progress in halting the persecution of Christians and other minorities in Syria and Iraq. “Steps to prosecute criminals and bring them to justice are also imperative,” Fr Daly said.
His comments came on the same day the European Parliament adopted the resolution proposed by Lars Adaktusson, a Swedish member, which stated that ISIS was “committing genocide against Christians and Yazidis and religious and ethnic minorities who do not agree with the so-called ISIS/Daesh interpretation of Islam, and that this, therefore, entails action under the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”.
The Parliament also recommended that “action should be taken” for the activities of ISIS to be recognised as genocide by the UN Security Council. The Parliament adopted the resolution the week after the Council of Europe, which harmonises human rights legislation throughout Europe, voted 117-1 in favour of a resolution recognising genocide.
If a similar resolution were adopted by the United Nations, signatories would have an obligation to bring the activities of ISIS to an end, to prioritise the protection of victims, and to prosecute perpetrators. The Pope, while in Bolivia in July, used the word “genocide” to describe the plight of persecuted Christians. Campaigns are underway in the US and Britain to persuade political leaders to call ISIS’s crimes genocide. Although President Barack Obama is yet to be persuaded, presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush have each expressed the view that ISIS is committing genocide.
In Britain, the Government has resisted calls to recognise genocide in spite of receiving a letter from 75 politicians asking it to do so. Among those who signed the letter was Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, former head of the British Armed Forces, and Lord Evans of Weardale, former head of MI5.
Kidnapped Sister says ordeal brought her closer to God
A 78-year-old Canadian Sister kidnapped in Cameroon two years ago has said she never felt God’s presence so much as she did in captivity. Notre Dame Sister Gilberte Bussiere was abducted in the middle of the night in 2014 in Tchere, northern Cameroon, and remained captive for 58 days. She told an audience in Montreal that the first two hours of her ordeal were stressful. Then she “chose to let things go”. She said: “Our material deprivation was harsh. We had nothing beside our clothes. But I found out that when you’re deprived of everything, God looks after you and fulfils you with everything you may need.
“I never felt so much God’s presence as I did during my captivity. I never enjoyed more deeply the soothing power of God’s words, as well as the joys of prayer,” said Sister Bussiere. “That feeling was so strong that it led me to believe that I wasn’t living in a state of absolute deprivation. Someone else was carrying that burden for me. That weight, that burden, Christ was living it for me.” No group claimed responsibility for the kidnappings. However, observers suggest people linked to Boko Haram were behind the abductions.
Francis prays for quake victims
Pope Francis has offered his prayers to those killed or injured in the earthquake that hit Taiwan on Saturday. At least 38 people died following the magnitude 6.4 earthquake in Tainan. Most of the dead were inside one 17-floor block of flats. A statement said: “[The Pope] sends prayerful condolences to the families of the deceased and injured … and invokes abundant divine blessings of consolation and strength upon all who have been affected by this tragedy.
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