displaced families – image ACN

Emergenciy food and medicine is being sent to hundreds of stricken families in Mali who have fled their homes to escape the fighting. Young children are already reported to be suffering from malnutrition.

A grant, totalling £34,000 was announced by Aid to the Church in Need on Friday, is being administered by Mopti Catholic diocese, southern Mali, a region where thousands of people have been displaced by war in the land-locked west Saharan country.

One of the world’s poorest nations, Mali is locked in a battle for supremacy after Islamists seized the north, prompting a French military retaliation earlier this month. With reports of the impending French-led international air and ground offensive against the Islamists, last week Church leaders warned of the need to act quickly in case the violence intensifies.

Bishop Georges Fonghoro of Mopti told ACN: “In the past months people have suffered enormously, especially in the north of the country. Many have fled to escape the violence.”  The bishop, whose diocese contains 40,000 Catholics, added: “We are dealing now with displaced people. The situation has calmed down even though a state of emergency was extended by three months. People are still afraid to return to their villages.”

Stressing how mothers and children are particularly lacking food, the bishop said: “The needs are enormous, the situation of the people both in the countryside and the cities is precarious and requires us to act immediately.”

The aid comes on top of emergency aid given to Mali last year, again helping displaced people.

The crisis broke nearly a year ago when Mali’s army staged a coup prompting Islamist militants and secular rebels to extend their control to the whole of the north, an area of the Sahara Desert larger than France. With the army putting up very little resistance, France carried out airstrikes in cities in the rebel-held north while working jointly with Malian troops to recapture Diabaly, Konna and Douentza, all close to Mopti.

Last weekend, Aid to the Church in Need received an account of the people’s suffering from a missionary priest reporting on the lead-up to the liberation of strategically important Diabaly and Konna a week ago.

Fr Zacharie Sorgho, whose parish of Nioro du Sahel in western Mali, has welcomed people fleeing the conflict, described the events, saying: “One morning there was an armed assault [by Islamist rebels] in the city of Konna… and other southern cities.

“This created a great fear in the city and everyone was in a state of confusion. People were fleeing and there were cries of despair.  After the intense fighting, Konna was freed from the hands of the jihadist Muslims. But then they attacked Diabaly and took it. They used people as human shields.”

Yad Vashem monument to Janusz Korczak

When Pope Benedict XVI visited the Holocaust Memorial of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem on 11 May, 2009 he said:

‘I have come to stand in silence before this monument, erected to honour the memory of the millions of Jews killed in the horrific tragedy of the Shoah. They lost their lives, but they will never lose their names: these are indelibly etched in the hearts of their loved ones, their surviving fellow prisoners, and all those determined never to allow such an atrocity to disgrace mankind again. Most of all, their names are forever fixed in the memory of Almighty God.

Established in 1953, as the world centre for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust Yad Vashem and its partners has collected and recorded the names and biographical details of two thirds of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis. Two million more still remain unidentified.

As the Pope quoted at the beginning of his visit to Yad Vashem, a passage from the Book of the prophet Isaiah furnishes two simple words which solemnly express the significance of the place itself: “vad” – which means memorial, and “shem” which means name…

“I will give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name … I will give them an everlasting name which shall not be cut off” .

Pope Benedict said: “One can weave an insidious web of lies to convince others that certain groups are undeserving of respect, yet, try as one might, one can never take away the name of a fellow human being.

“May the names of these victims never perish! May their suffering never be denied, belittled or forgotten! And may all people of goodwill remain vigilant in rooting out from the heart of man anything that could lead to tragedies such as this!”

Pope Benedict said that the Catholic Church feels deep compassion for the victims remembered here. Similarly, he said, ” she draws close to all those who today are subjected to persecution on account of race, colour, condition of life or religion – their sufferings are hers, and hers is their hope for justice.” And he reaffirmed that he is committed to pray and work tirelessly to ensure that hatred will never reign in the hearts of men again.

Pope Benedict said: “Gazing upon the faces reflected in the pool that lies in stillness within this memorial, one cannot help but recall how each of them bears a name. I can only imagine the joyful expectation of their parents as they anxiously awaited the birth of their children. What name shall we give this child? What is to become of him or her? Who could have imagined that they would be condemned to such a deplorable fate!”

“Their cry still echoes in our hearts.

“My dear friends, I am deeply grateful to God and to you for the opportunity to stand here in silence: a silence to remember, a silence to pray, a silence to hope.”

For more information on Yad Vashem and Holocaust Memorial Day see: http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/remembrance/international/

However repression has continued in the subsequent years, with brutal tactics being employed against pro-democracy protestors by the previous military and by the government of President Morsi in order to enforce the status quo, resulting in the loss of many lives. Most recently, seven people died and hundreds were injured during the widespread protests that took place late last year, following the negative reaction to the new constitution, which restricts freedom of expression and the rights of women and religious minorities.

In addition, sectarian violence has continued with little or no official intervention. Members of Egypt’s Coptic community have been physically attacked or killed; their homes, businesses and church buildings have been destroyed and several young women have been abducted.

In a statement issued on the eve of the anniversary, His Grace, Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom said: “The uprising in Tahrir Square on 25 January 2011 inspired the world as it saw Egyptians standing side-by-side in an effort to reclaim their national identity. There was hope for a new Egypt, one that could offer its people the freedom and responsibility of equal citizenship while no longer focusing on their religious or political stance. It is unfortunate however, that two years down the line we have not seen sufficient signs of this transformation, and we still witness the marginalisation and alienation of many, Christians and Muslims alike, within Egyptian society, while repeatedly witnessing others committing crimes and not being brought to justice.” He added: “Considering the significant sacrifice that has been presented over the past two years, even leading to the loss of life, it is time for Egypt to emerge out of the pattern of discriminatory practice, and take on its new identity of a promised democracy that the January 2011 uprising sought to establish.”

United Action for Egyptian Copts (UAFEC), a United Kingdom-based Diaspora NGO said: “The Egyptian revolution in 2011 is a dream that has not yet come true. Let us keep dreaming and working hard towards a truly free and democratic Egypt and have faith that God will deliver Egypt very soon.”

CSW’s Advocacy Director, Andrew Johnston, said: “The revolution promised to usher in a new era of rights for Egypt’s citizens, and there was particularly hope that the rights of religious minorities would improve. However, the past two years have seen increasing restrictions of fundamental freedoms, a marked increase in attacks against Copts, as well as the jailing and harassment of those who have opposed the Morsi government, or who do not share the Muslim Brotherhood’s political or religious vision. If the government is truly as democratic as it claims, it should begin to take concrete steps to allow for freedom of expression and to ensure that the rights of all citizens are respected, and that any attacks on individuals or communities are thoroughly investigated.”

For further information see: www.csw.org.uk.

Father Frans Bouwen

However he said the citizens of Israel had given a strong signal that they desire peace and stability above all else.  “With the success of the Party of Yair Lapid, a position that I would define realistic and pragmatic has been established. The Israelis have said: we want to live a normal life, without ideological struggles. Likewise, peace is one of the things that one needs in order to live a normal life. So a pragmatic and not idealistic approach can emerge, which could be beneficial, if it is not denied in the negotiations over the division of power.”

Fr Bouwen said: “The profile of the Christian community in Israel is changing, but the majority of Christians still belongs to the Palestinian Arab minority. Other Christians are mostly immigrant workers and their stable roots remain to be verified. In addition, there is the problem concerning Russian immigrants who came to Israel without revealing their Christian faith. It is known that they exist, they go to church, visit monasteries, but they do not want to be identified as Christians, and no one can say how many they are. ”

The historical editor of Proche Orient Chrétien, Father Bouwen  has been involved in ecumenical dialogue for many years and is a highly regarded analyst of Christian communities in the Middle East.