Pope Benedict XVI has reached out in compassion to beleaguered clergy, victims of clergy sex abuse and members of other religious groups during his first US trip.
On the final day of his journey, he was to turn his focus to the people of New York, in a prayer service yesterday at the site of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Benedict has invited 24 people with ties to ground zero to join him: survivors, relatives of victims and four rescue workers. He was to pray for peace, hope and healing, including for those who became ill after breathing toxic air in the ruins.
PHOTO: AFP
Benedict was to be joined by New York Cardinal Edward Egan and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. New York Governor David Paterson and New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine had also been invited.
Benedict has addressed terrorism several times during his six-day visit and warned diplomats on Friday that international cooperation needed to solve urgent problems is “in crisis” because decisions rest in the hands of a few powerful nations.
The pope also insisted that the way to peace was by ensuring respect for human dignity.
“The promotion of human rights remains the most effective strategy for eliminating inequalities between countries and social groups and increasing security,” the pope said.
Those whose rights are trampled, he said, “become easy prey to the call to violence and they then become violators of peace.”
Later yesterday, the pope was to celebrate Mass at Yankee Stadium, before returning to Rome.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS