Daily Archives: June 18, 2013

Church, Nigeria

Nigeria: Four churches burned by Boko Haram

Independent Catholic News

Archbishop Kaigama
Archbishop Kaigama

Four churches were burned in an attack probably committed by members of the jihadist group Boko Haram in Borno State, one of the three northern states of Nigeria where a state of emergency has been imposed . A group of armed men with improvised explosive devices and petrol bombs attacked the Hwa’a, Kunde, Gathahure and Gjigga communities on Gwoza Hills, burning the four churches, raiding and looting cattle and grain reserves belonging to the population.

“Unfortunately I do not have precise information and do not know what communities the Christian churches destroyed belong to,” Mgr Ignatius Ayau Kaigama Archbishop of Jos and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria said. Continue reading Nigeria: Four churches burned by Boko Haram →

Britain, Church, Economic Justice

Pope’s letter to David Cameron published on eve of G8

Independent Catholic News

“The goal of economics and politics is to serve humanity, beginning with the poorest and most vulnerable wherever they may be, even in their mothers’ wombs, every economic and political theory or action must set about providing each inhabitant of the planet with the minimum wherewithal to live in dignity and freedom, with the possibility of supporting a family, educating children, praising God and developing one’s own human potential. This is the main thing; in the absence of such a vision, all economic activity is meaningless.”

David Cameron
David Cameron

Yesterday a letter from the Holy Father to Prime Minister David Cameron was made public concerning the British presidency of the G8  and the upcoming meeting of the G8 scheduled to take place in Northern Ireland on 17 and 18 June, with the theme of ‘A G8 Meeting that Goes Back to First Principles’. In the letter, the Holy Father emphasized that, for the theme “to attain its broadest and deepest resonance, it is necessary to ensure that all political and economic activity, whether national or international,” makes reference to humanity.
Continue reading Pope’s letter to David Cameron published on eve of G8 →

USA

How Booz Allen Made the Revolving Door Redundant

“It is no longer possible to determine the difference between employees of the NSA and employees of companies such as Booz Allen.”

By Pratap Chatterjee

WASHINGTON, Jun 17 2013 (IPS) – Edward Snowden, a low-level employee of Booz Allen Hamilton who blew the whistle on the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), unexpectedly exposed a powerful and seamless segment of the military-industrial complex – the world of contractors that consumes some 70 percent of this country’s 52-billion-dollar intelligence budget. Continue reading How Booz Allen Made the Revolving Door Redundant →

Africa, Economic Justice

Monbiot: Bono can’t help Africans by stealing their voice

Mail and Guardian

Because the U2 frontman and others like him are seen as representatives of the poor, the poor are not invited to speak.

George Monbiot

econ2It was bad enough in 2005. Then, at the G8 summit in Scotland, Bono and Bob Geldof heaped praise on Tony Blair and George Bush, who were still mired in the butchery they had initiated in Iraq. At one point Geldof appeared, literally and figuratively, to be sitting in Tony Blair’s lap. African activists accused them of drowning out a campaign for global justice with a campaign for charity. Continue reading Monbiot: Bono can’t help Africans by stealing their voice →