Friday, March 16, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
AFTER SUCCESSFUL POLLS, YEMEN MUST ADDRESS SECURITY AND HUMANITARIAN CONCERNS – UN
AFTER SUCCESSFUL POLLS, YEMEN MUST ADDRESS SECURITY AND HUMANITARIAN CONCERNS – UN
New York, Mar 7 2012 5:10PM
Following a successful presidential election last month, Yemen must continue making progress in its transition process to address a growing humanitarian crisis as well as a precarious security situation, the United Nations envoy to the country said today.
On 21 February, thousands of Yemenis headed to the polls to vote in presidential elections, which resulted in the victory of Abbed Rabbo Mansour al-Hadi. The Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Yemen, Jamal Benomar, who has been working closely with Yemeni authorities to implement a transition roadmap, congratulated the country on the high turnout, calling it an important development in the country.
"Turnout was much higher than many people had expected and many youth participated and voted for the new president," Mr. Benomar told reporters in New York following a closed-door session with the Security Council. "President Hadi now has a strong mandate to lead this transition."
Mr. Benomar, who recently visited Yemen, said that a new phase in the transition process is starting and stressed that there are many challenges laying ahead, including the organization of a national dialogue conference, constitution reform as well as reform of the electoral system, and organization of general elections by the end of the transition period in two years.
In his briefing to the Council, the envoy highlighted the economic, security and political challenges ahead. In particular, he expressed concern about Al-Qaida controlling certain regions in the southern part of the country.
"In the long months of the crisis, the State lost control as it collapsed in a number of areas around the country, benefiting Al-Qaida, and this is now going to be a major challenge in this new phase," he said.
Mr. Benomar also emphasized that there is a growing humanitarian crisis in the country as 6.8 million Yemenis experience food insecurity, with three million in need of immediate assistance. Yemen also has the second highest rate of chronic malnutrition in children in the world after Afghanistan.
The envoy called on the international community "to support Yemen in this time of need, both in the humanitarian front and also for Yemen's economic recovery." Currently the $446 million humanitarian appeal for the country is funded at only 15 per cent.
New York, Mar 7 2012 5:10PM
Following a successful presidential election last month, Yemen must continue making progress in its transition process to address a growing humanitarian crisis as well as a precarious security situation, the United Nations envoy to the country said today.
On 21 February, thousands of Yemenis headed to the polls to vote in presidential elections, which resulted in the victory of Abbed Rabbo Mansour al-Hadi. The Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Yemen, Jamal Benomar, who has been working closely with Yemeni authorities to implement a transition roadmap, congratulated the country on the high turnout, calling it an important development in the country.
"Turnout was much higher than many people had expected and many youth participated and voted for the new president," Mr. Benomar told reporters in New York following a closed-door session with the Security Council. "President Hadi now has a strong mandate to lead this transition."
Mr. Benomar, who recently visited Yemen, said that a new phase in the transition process is starting and stressed that there are many challenges laying ahead, including the organization of a national dialogue conference, constitution reform as well as reform of the electoral system, and organization of general elections by the end of the transition period in two years.
In his briefing to the Council, the envoy highlighted the economic, security and political challenges ahead. In particular, he expressed concern about Al-Qaida controlling certain regions in the southern part of the country.
"In the long months of the crisis, the State lost control as it collapsed in a number of areas around the country, benefiting Al-Qaida, and this is now going to be a major challenge in this new phase," he said.
Mr. Benomar also emphasized that there is a growing humanitarian crisis in the country as 6.8 million Yemenis experience food insecurity, with three million in need of immediate assistance. Yemen also has the second highest rate of chronic malnutrition in children in the world after Afghanistan.
The envoy called on the international community "to support Yemen in this time of need, both in the humanitarian front and also for Yemen's economic recovery." Currently the $446 million humanitarian appeal for the country is funded at only 15 per cent.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
We must protect true meaning of marriage, says Roman Catholic leader
We must protect true meaning of marriage, says Roman Catholic leader
The true meaning of marriage is in danger of being lost under David Cameron’s plans to extend it to same-sex couples, the leader of five million Roman Catholics in England and Wales will warn this weekend.
The Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols Photo: DAVID ROSE
By John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor
Redefining marriage to include homosexuals would be a “profoundly radical step” stripping it of its “distinctive nature”, the Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, will say.
The warning, the most significant intervention yet into the debate on gay marriage, is in a letter to be read from the pulpit in 2,500 churches during Mass this Sunday. It has been seen by The Daily Telegraph as the Government prepares to announce the terms of a national consultation on a proposed change to the law on marriage.
The last time the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church intervened on a political issue, during the threat to impose quotas on faith schools in 2007, ministers climbed down within days.
Significantly, the letter, co-signed by the Archbishop of Southwark, the Most Reverend Peter Smith, adopts a strikingly moderate tone, in contrast with that of Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, who accused the Coalition of a “grotesque subversion” at the weekend.
As well as setting out Church teaching, it appeals to wider society, arguing that marriage is a “natural institution” with a meaning understood far beyond the confines of the religion. It says that extending it to same-sex couples would reduce marriage to a vague commitment between two people. The archbishops argue that marriage between a man and a woman is “at the foundation of our society”, but also praise the “remarkable example of courage and fidelity” displayed by many who have suffered marital breakdown.
RELATED ARTICLES
Catholic leader: gay marriage is like slavery 05 Mar 2012
Cardinal Keith O'Brien: We cannot indulge this madness 03 Mar 2012
Catholics will be called to oppose gay marriage 05 May 2012
While quoting the Catechism, which defines marriage as a sacrament, they say that their “instinctive understanding” of marriage as a setting both for secure relationships and bringing up children will be shared by wider society. “Neither the Church nor the State has the power to change this fundamental understanding of marriage itself,” they write. “Nor is this simply a matter of public opinion.”
Crucially, they argue against changing the meaning of civil, as well as religious, marriage. The Government had hoped to neutralise opposition from a coalition led by the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey, by offering reassurances that churches would not be forced to marry gay couples.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph last week the equalities minister, Lynne Featherstone, insisted that the Government was not “trampling over tradition” but “allowing a space” for homosexual rights to be respected alongside religious belief.
The archbishops’ letter has been sent to bishops across England and Wales and is being circulated to parishes this week. It is accompanied by a cover note asking priests to encourage their parishioners to sign a petition set up by Lord Carey’s Coalition for Marriage, opposing the redefinition of marriage.
More than a million people attend Roman Catholic services each week, out of an estimated five million Catholics in England and Wales. In 2007, a letter issued by the then Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, helped secure the future of faith schools as the Labour government came under pressure from unions to end state funding.
Alan Johnson, the then education secretary, had attempted to impose quotas on faith schools, forcing them to reserve a quarter of places for non-churchgoing families. Faced with the lobbying campaign spearheaded by the Church, he climbed down within days.
Churchgoers will be encouraged to take part in the Government consultation when it begins and lobby their MPs directly.
“The reasons given by our Government for wanting to change the definition of marriage are those of equality and discrimination,” the archbishops write. “But our present law does not discriminate unjustly when it requires both a man and a woman for marriage. It simply recognises and protects the distinctive nature of marriage.
“Changing the legal definition of marriage would be a profoundly radical step. Its consequences should be taken seriously now.”
Changing the law would “gradually and inevitably” change society’s understanding of the purpose of marriage, they say.
“It would reduce it just to the commitment of the two people involved. There would be no recognition of the complementarity of male and female or that marriage is intended for the procreation and education of children.”
Setting out their ideas on marriage they add: “The roots of the institution of marriage lie in our nature.
“This pattern is, of course, affirmed by many other religious traditions — understood as a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, and for the creation and upbringing of children, marriage is an expression of our fundamental humanity.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9124963/We-must-protect-true-meaning-of-marriage-says-Roman-Catholic-leader.html
http://islaamdoon.blogspot.com/
The true meaning of marriage is in danger of being lost under David Cameron’s plans to extend it to same-sex couples, the leader of five million Roman Catholics in England and Wales will warn this weekend.
The Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols Photo: DAVID ROSE
By John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor
Redefining marriage to include homosexuals would be a “profoundly radical step” stripping it of its “distinctive nature”, the Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, will say.
The warning, the most significant intervention yet into the debate on gay marriage, is in a letter to be read from the pulpit in 2,500 churches during Mass this Sunday. It has been seen by The Daily Telegraph as the Government prepares to announce the terms of a national consultation on a proposed change to the law on marriage.
The last time the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church intervened on a political issue, during the threat to impose quotas on faith schools in 2007, ministers climbed down within days.
Significantly, the letter, co-signed by the Archbishop of Southwark, the Most Reverend Peter Smith, adopts a strikingly moderate tone, in contrast with that of Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, who accused the Coalition of a “grotesque subversion” at the weekend.
As well as setting out Church teaching, it appeals to wider society, arguing that marriage is a “natural institution” with a meaning understood far beyond the confines of the religion. It says that extending it to same-sex couples would reduce marriage to a vague commitment between two people. The archbishops argue that marriage between a man and a woman is “at the foundation of our society”, but also praise the “remarkable example of courage and fidelity” displayed by many who have suffered marital breakdown.
RELATED ARTICLES
Catholic leader: gay marriage is like slavery 05 Mar 2012
Cardinal Keith O'Brien: We cannot indulge this madness 03 Mar 2012
Catholics will be called to oppose gay marriage 05 May 2012
While quoting the Catechism, which defines marriage as a sacrament, they say that their “instinctive understanding” of marriage as a setting both for secure relationships and bringing up children will be shared by wider society. “Neither the Church nor the State has the power to change this fundamental understanding of marriage itself,” they write. “Nor is this simply a matter of public opinion.”
Crucially, they argue against changing the meaning of civil, as well as religious, marriage. The Government had hoped to neutralise opposition from a coalition led by the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey, by offering reassurances that churches would not be forced to marry gay couples.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph last week the equalities minister, Lynne Featherstone, insisted that the Government was not “trampling over tradition” but “allowing a space” for homosexual rights to be respected alongside religious belief.
The archbishops’ letter has been sent to bishops across England and Wales and is being circulated to parishes this week. It is accompanied by a cover note asking priests to encourage their parishioners to sign a petition set up by Lord Carey’s Coalition for Marriage, opposing the redefinition of marriage.
More than a million people attend Roman Catholic services each week, out of an estimated five million Catholics in England and Wales. In 2007, a letter issued by the then Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, helped secure the future of faith schools as the Labour government came under pressure from unions to end state funding.
Alan Johnson, the then education secretary, had attempted to impose quotas on faith schools, forcing them to reserve a quarter of places for non-churchgoing families. Faced with the lobbying campaign spearheaded by the Church, he climbed down within days.
Churchgoers will be encouraged to take part in the Government consultation when it begins and lobby their MPs directly.
“The reasons given by our Government for wanting to change the definition of marriage are those of equality and discrimination,” the archbishops write. “But our present law does not discriminate unjustly when it requires both a man and a woman for marriage. It simply recognises and protects the distinctive nature of marriage.
“Changing the legal definition of marriage would be a profoundly radical step. Its consequences should be taken seriously now.”
Changing the law would “gradually and inevitably” change society’s understanding of the purpose of marriage, they say.
“It would reduce it just to the commitment of the two people involved. There would be no recognition of the complementarity of male and female or that marriage is intended for the procreation and education of children.”
Setting out their ideas on marriage they add: “The roots of the institution of marriage lie in our nature.
“This pattern is, of course, affirmed by many other religious traditions — understood as a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, and for the creation and upbringing of children, marriage is an expression of our fundamental humanity.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9124963/We-must-protect-true-meaning-of-marriage-says-Roman-Catholic-leader.html
http://islaamdoon.blogspot.com/
Friday, March 2, 2012
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