Global news in brief

Canadian diocese launches Covid appeal

THE Anglican Diocese of Moosonee, Canada, has launched an urgent fundraising appeal to support communities in the Kashechewan First Nation in northern Ontario who are in a “growing state of emergency” due to the increase in Covid-19 cases, mainly in children. More than 200 cases have been reported in the community of 1,800 people. www.canadahelps.org

Visits by prison chaplains threatened by the radio plan

Brazil’s National Penitentiary Department (NPD) decision to replace in-person chaplain visits to prisoners with closed-circuit ecumenical radio stations has been condemned by the country’s Catholic Prison Pastoral Commission, according to the news site. Node reports. The NDP said the plan, announced in April, “would dramatically increase the number of people assisted by their religious institutions, compared to the limited number of people who attend an in-person visit by a religious leader, usually in the region. [prison] meters ”. In May, however, the Commission wrote to the political director of the NDP, dismissing the idea as a direct attack on his work. A theological adviser to the Commission, Father Gianfranco Graziola, told Crux this week: “Prisoners have a right to religious assistance, and religious assistance is not just preaching. Catholics need to receive the sacraments, and that is not possible through the audio system.

Religious leaders call for action against Uyghur genocide

A GROUP of religious leaders, including the The Bishop of Truro, The Right Reverend Philip Mounstephen, and former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Williams, wrote to G7 leaders who gathered in Cornwall over the weekend to raise the issue of suspicion of genocide and crimes against humanity committed against Uyghurs and other Muslims. minorities in China. “Despite mounting evidence of atrocities, the response of the international community continues to be inadequate,” they write. “Only a few states have condemned the atrocities. Even fewer states have imposed sanctions on those primarily responsible. The letter, signed by 49 people, including a representative of the Dalai Lama, urges the G7 to “condemn atrocities and work for comprehensive responses, including investigating and prosecuting crimes, assisting survivors and protecting them from future atrocities ”. Some of the signatories had also signed another letter urging G7 leaders to ensure a more equitable deployment of Covid-19 vaccines (News, June 11).

Priests “kidnapped and tortured” in Cameroon

ROMAN CATHOLIC priests in Cameroon are attacked, kidnapped, tortured and killed, due to the conflict between English-speaking separatists and the French-speaking government, reports Voice of America. The communications director of the National Bishops’ Conference of the RC in Cameroon, Father Humphrey Tatah Mbui, said in a press release seen by the publication that at least six priests had been tortured by the military or the rebels during the two last few weeks. He said: “The Church must continue to insist on this righteousness and this truth in due course. And when the Church is telling the truth, it often doesn’t go well with either side. Many parishes have been closed or are not functioning as they should. “