Open resources, old textbooks, content controversies: How much do you know about what's happening in the world of curriculum and instruction?

California's proposed curriculum guide in ethnic studies is being sent back for substantial revision after a pileup of criticism that it's anti-Semitic.

Nebraska's education department released an interactive instructional materials map last week, showing what curricula districts have adopted for English-language arts, math, and K-8 science.

"He's the complete package technically," Spain Under-17 coach Santi Denia said of Ferrán Torres, who is starting to make first-team headway at Valencia aged 17.

When parents or guardians hope for a miracle for their child who is critically ill, ethical and professional challenges can arise. Often, although not always, the parent or guardian’s hope for a miracle entails a request for continued life-sustaining interventions. Striking a balance between the pediatrician’s conception of good medicine and the parent or guardian’s authority requires a response that is sensitive, practical, and ethically sound. In this article, we recommend 3 cumulative steps that promote such a response. First, we recommend ways of exploring essential issues through open inquiry, interdisciplinary dialogue, and self-reflection. As part of this exploration, pediatricians will discover that parents or guardians often have unique ideas about what a miracle might be for their child. The second step includes analyzing this diversity and seeking understanding. We classify the hope for a miracle into 3 distinct categories: integrated, seeking, and adaptive. After the pediatrician has categorized the parent or guardian’s hope, they can consider specific recommendations. We detail context-specific responses for each kind of hope. By attending to these nuances, not only will the parent or guardian’s perspective be heard but also the pediatrician’s recommendation can strike a balance between advocating for their conception of good medicine and respecting the parent or guardian’s beliefs.

Source: www.youtube.com - Monday, April 20, 2020

Source: www.youtube.com - Tuesday, May 05, 2020

A new supercapacitor based on manganese oxide could combine the storage capacity of batteries with the high power and fast charging of other supercapacitors, according to researchers at Penn State and two universities in China.

The Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, in conjunction with several Penn State colleges, awarded more than $725,000 in seed grants to fund 32 new computational and data sciences projects. The 57 researchers involved in the awards represent 12 Penn State colleges and 31 academic departments.

After months of hard work and preparation, nearly a dozen Penn State Hazleton seniors are now one step closer to graduating after presenting their Capstone Research and Design Thesis projects.

What gets tested gets taught, so performance assessments that measure the competencies that matter can lead to instruction that yields those competencies, argues Ben Kornell of Envision Learning Partners.

The bill would mandate local bullying policies and require data collection and reporting at the local, state, and federal level.

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The forthcoming bullying debate will prompt the first votes on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the right to same-sex marriage.

The National Governor's Association wants Congress to give states lots of running room when it comes to crafting their accountability plans, according to an interim proposal outlining NGA's priorities for reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

The Assessment for Learning Project, a partnership between Center for Innovation in Education and Next Generation Learning Challenges, granted twelve grants totaling $2 million for rethinking assessment.

House leaders may hold off on a final vote on a Republican-backed bill to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law, amid pushback from powerful GOP lobbying groups

As of today, the terminal sections of Schönefeld Airport have new designations: K, L, M Departures, M Arrivals and Q.

The Dahme-Spreewald administrative district’s local building inspection authority confirmed the completion of Terminal T1 at BER on 28 April following the completion of the construction work.

California, which has a mixed history when it comes to evidence-based reading instruction, has a plan to use federal funds for literacy programs that some say are out of sync with the science.

A new research study, released just a few days before the U.S. military killed a top Iranian military commander and escalated international tensions, looked at connections between sudden national security crises and education policymaking in Washington.

Four top European players feature in the first episode of UEFA's new weekly vlog series designed to increase the visibility of women's football to teenage girls.

UEFA's ground-breaking weekly vlog Press Play has now had over three million views on the Together #WePlayStrong Youtube channel.

Belgium, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway and holders Spain will join hosts Scotland in the finals.

Noise cancellation removes unwanted sounds. The best noise-cancelling headphones let you block out the world around you to enjoy your music...or the sweet sound of silence.

Sennheiser's GSP 670 wireless gaming headset feels comfortable, sounds terrific, and features Bluetooth so you can use it with your phone.

The latest Astro Gaming A50 wireless gaming headset feels and sounds excellent, but it's a pricey option in an increasingly competitive field.

Holders Lyon, former winners Arsenal and Wolfsburg, plus past finalists Barcelona, Paris and Fortuna all progressed.

Washington D.C., Mar 22, 2020 / 04:00 am (CNA).- The Syrian civil war has led to one of the largest refugee crises of modern times, and presented unique problems for Syria’s ancient Christian communities. Marginalized for centuries, persecuted by ISIS, afraid to attract any attention from the West, Syrian Christians remain, by most accounts, the war’s most invisible victims.

Seta Kale, a Syrian with a Syriac and Armenian descent, was born and raised in Qamishli and fled to Sweden at the age of 16. Today, as a 23-year-old, she’s studying business and economics at Jönköping International Business School, while working part-time as a cashier at a supermarket called Coop, and as a saleswoman at Rituals Cosmetics. Kale likes to sing to cope with her stress, and she likes to read poetry.

In partnership with the Philos Project, CNA sat down with Seta Kale:

When and how did you flee to Sweden?

I moved to Sweden seven years ago in December 2012, a couple of days before Christmas. We flew from Syria to Armenia, and from there we came to Sweden as tourists. We are some of the lucky ones as there were not many who could flee safely. But it was not as easy as it sounds. My family and I had to split up and travel on different dates in order to avoid the suspicion that we were refugees. We had no idea how we were going to be treated upon our arrival in Sweden, and therefore did not want to take any risks by travelling together.

We have seven people in our family. My mom, two of my brothers and I went first. After six months my older sister and third brother came, and a year later my dad arrived. My dad had to take the most difficult route, one that was filled with risks. He couldn’t get a tourist visa, so he had to travel between countries (Turkey, Italy, Greece and France) to be able to come to Sweden. At one point, he had to cross the sea in a small boat together with 30 other people and walk through a forest for several days. Some days he was unreachable, and I’ve never felt that kind of fear ever before. It was a kind that I will never forget.

When did you start feeling the war?

As I mentioned before, I lived in Qamishli. It is a city in northeast Syria, and it was one of the cities that was least affected by war in the beginning unlike, for example, Aleppo and Raqqa. There still were bombs and shootings. The violence started when our bread factory was bombed. It then escalated to hospitals, schools and many public places. Everything became more expensive and there was no access to electricity and clean water 24/7. People were afraid to go to work and children were afraid to go to school. Qamishli felt like a haunted city.

It was when my school was bombed only minutes after my sister and I had left that my dad decided that we had to flee Syria. I will never forget the memory of that day. The ground was shaking under our feet as my mom and aunt ran towards us. After that, people became desperate to flee the war. Houses and apartments were quickly emptied. The feelings and stories that Syria has carried together with her people since 2011 is indescribable.

Tell me about your hometown in Syria.

In Qamishli, Syriacs, Armenians, Assyrians, Arabs, Kurds, Christians, Muslims all lived together. There were as many churches as there were mosques. People worked alongside one another. They were humble, loving, loyal and respectful towards each other. We felt secure because we knew that if we ever were in danger, the whole city would come and help. Religion and ethnicity did not matter to us, and this was the case in the whole country, not only in my hometown. We never thought “he’s Muslim” or “she’s Christian.”

The social life never stopped in Qamishli. There were things to do 24/7 with friends and family. Christians and Muslims celebrated Christmas, Eid al-fitr, Easter and Eid al-adha together.

When I came to Sweden, everyone thought I lived in a tent in the desert. But the more they got to know me, they were surprised by my knowledge and all the languages I could speak. Unfortunately, people tend to believe things about Syria that are not true. We had access to development, education, jobs and more. People say that nothing is perfect, but Syria was perfect in my eyes. We were very rich, but not in a materialistic way. We were rich in culture, religion, knowledge, history, tradition, peoples and so much more. Everything had a reason and I am the way I am today mostly because of what and who Syria is.

What are your best and worst memories from Qamishli?

Wow, I don’t know where to begin. I have so many good memories imprinted in my heart. I cannot choose one because there are so many; from silly things in school with friends, to mini trips with the family throughout Syria, to celebrations of Christmas and Easter.

The worst memory I have was a time when I was on my way from Qamishli to Aleppo while we were fleeing the war. It was a 9-hour drive by bus. Before, it used to be a beautiful ride with beautiful buildings, houses, people and restaurants on the road. But that day I saw a completely different scene. It was filled with sorrow, and the beautiful buildings were reduced to stones on the ground. There were no houses, no restaurants and no people. During the trip to Aleppo the bus had to stop more than five times at checkpoints. Some checkpoints belonged to the Syrian military and some were controlled by ISIS. Once, my sister and I had to hide under the seats so the ISIS soldiers wouldn’t take us. Another horrible memory is simply when I realized that this is it, I will never go back to my country. I cried the entire flight.

Have you lost any friends or family members during the war?

I was one of the lucky ones who didn’t lose any friends or family members. But in Qamishli, everyone knows everyone, and we heard a lot of incredibly sad stories about people who disappeared during bombings and shootings. I had family members and friends, both boys and girls, who were drafted to the military. It was during the worst time in the war and the military needed as many people as possible. When these people would return, they were very different. What they witnessed during their time in the military changed them. In that way, I’ve lost loved ones.

If you could go back, would you stay in Sweden or move back to Syria?

I would definitely go back. Besides the fact that I miss it, I want to help rebuild what the war has destroyed. I want to see my country back on its feet and stronger than ever. I want to start a family there and I want my children to grow up in the country that I grew up in.

If you could send a message to Christians in the West, what would you want them to know about Syria?

I want people not to only think of war when they hear “Syria,” because it’s so much more. I want them to know that the Syrian people are struggling and fighting for the country to remain. But most of all, I want them to continue to pray every day for the people there and know that any contribution is an enormous help for the Syrians.

 

 

Sanaa, Yemen, Mar 24, 2020 / 04:40 pm (CNA).- A Yemeni appeals court run by Houthi rebels on Sunday upheld the death sentence of a member of the Baha'i religion. The court also ordered the dissolution of Baha’i institutions.

Hamed bin Haydara was detained by Houthi rebels in 2013, and was denied access to a March 22 appeal hearing in Sanaa which upheld an earlier death sentence.

“This alarming decision is an egregious violation of religious freedom and the fundamental rights of Yemeni Baha’is,” Gayle Manchin, vice chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, said March 23. “USCIRF has been long concerned with the welfare of Mr. bin Haydara and the Yemeni Baha’i community. We call on Houthi authorities to immediately reverse this verdict and cease their baseless persecution of this peaceful religious minority.”

According to USCIRF, bin Haydara was charged with “with spying for Israel, teaching literacy classes deemed incompatible with Islam, and attempting to convert Muslims.”

The Baha'i International Community said it was "utterly dismayed at this outrageous verdict" and demanded the court reverse the decision, AFP reported.

"At a time when the international community is battling a global health crisis, it is incomprehensible that the authorities in Sanaa have upheld a death sentence against an innocent individual solely because of his beliefs instead of focusing on safeguarding the population, including Baha'is," said Diane Ala'i, a Baha’i representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

According to AFP, the Houthis have sought to ban the Baha’i religion.. The Houthi movement’s courts have started proceedings against 20 members of the religion, six of whom have been detained. The movement controls Sanaa and much of the westernmost part of the country.

In January, Pope Francis told Holy See diplomats that the crisis in Yemen is “one of the most serious humanitarian crises of recent history.”

The civil war between Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and a Saudi Arabian-led coalition has killed over 100,000 people since 2015. According to a Center of Strategic and International Studies report, the war has also caused nearly 24 million people to be in need of humanitarian assistance. 

Restraint on humanitarian organizations and aerial attacks has left 80% of Yemen’s population in need of food, fuel, and medicine, the CSIS Task Force on Humanitarian Access reported.

The Associated Press reported in February that half of the United Nations’ aid delivery programs had been blocked by the Houthi rebels. The rebels had requested that 2% of the humanitarian budget be given directly to them, heightening concerns that the group has been diverting charitable funds to finance the war.

In recent years, the pope has often asked for prayers for the Yemeni people in his public audiences.

“Pray hard, because there are children who are hungry, who are thirsty, who have no medicine, and are in danger of death,” Pope Francis said during an Angelus address in February 2019.

CNA Staff, Mar 27, 2020 / 11:19 am (CNA).- Four men working in Iraq for the French humanitarian organization SOS Chrétiens d'Orient who went missing in Baghdad in January have been released by their kidnappers, the French president announced Thursday.

Emmanuel Macron announced March 26 that he “welcomes the release of our three nationals Antoine Brochon, Julien Dittmar, Alexandre Goodarzy and Iraqi Tariq Mattoka.”

The men disappeared Jan. 20 after they made a trip to an appointment by car. SOS Chrétiens d'Orient tried to contact them the following day, unsuccessfully.

The missing employees had gone to Baghdad “to renew their visas and the registration of association with the Iraqi authorities and to monitor the association's operations” in the country.

Macron's office said it had made “every effort” to secure their release, and he expressed “gratitude to the Iraqi authorities for their co-operation.”

SOS Chrétiens d'Orient said last week that they had received no ransom demand, and no group had claimed responsibility for the abduction.

The organization works to support Eastern Christians with humanitarian material aid; it has permanent missions in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt.

Christians in Iraq have suffered persecution in recent years, especially during the invasion of the Islamic State.

Prior to the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003, there were about 1.5 million Iraqi Christians. Today, that number is believed to be fewer than 500,000.

CNA Staff, Mar 30, 2020 / 02:30 pm (CNA).- The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was closed last week and has no definite timeline for reopening. This is the first time in nearly 700 years the holy site has closed for an extended period due to disease. 

The church building, which houses the tomb of Christ and the site of the crucifixion, was first closed to pilgrims and other visitors on Wednesday, March 25. Initially, the closure was only expected to last for one week, but religious and Israeli government officials agreed that due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the global pilgrimage destination should not reopen. 

"The initial understanding is that this order is valid for one week, although nobody knows how long this crisis will take," Wadie Abu Nassar, a spokesperson for the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, told Reuters. 

Nassar said that if the church is still closed to the public at Easter, some sort of celebration will be arranged in line with the governmental guidelines and restrictions. Easter is celebrated on April 12 for Latin Rite Catholics and April 19 for Eastern Churches using the Julian calendar-- both dates are observed within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. 

If this were to happen, said Nassar, pilgrims would still not be allowed inside, and the denominations that share custody of the church would coordinate to ensure that there are no more than 10 clerics and other leaders gathered inside at any time.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is unique among religious sites as it is partially controlled by several different Christian Churches. The Roman Catholic Church, Greek Orthodox Church, and Armenian Apostolic Church each share control of the building, and other Orthodox Churches also celebrate divine liturgy at the site. 

The last time the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was closed for an extended period was 1349, during an outbreak of the Black Death in Jerusalem. 

The church, which was first consecrated in the year 335, has been closed for short periods of time in the subsequent millennia due to war or other disputes. In 2018, to protest a proposed tax increase on churches, the site was closed to the public for about three days before reopening. 

Other religious sites, including the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock, have also closed due to the Israeli government’s new restrictions aimed at preventing people from catching COVID-19. 

Authorities in Bethlehem, in the West Bank, closed the Church of the Nativity in early March after four cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in the town. The Church of the Nativity was built over the birthplace of Jesus Christ. All tourists were subsequently banned from entering Bethlehem.

Israel has taken a proactive approach in its attempts to contain the spread of COVID-19. On March 9, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that anyone entering the country would be forced to quarantine for a 14-day period. That announcement resulted in the cancelation or abrupt end to many pilgrimages, as travelers scrambled to secure flights back to the United States. 

Israel has recorded more than 4,000 cases of COVID-19, with 15 deaths.

CNA Staff, Apr 6, 2020 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- Unable to lead the traditional Palm Sunday procession through Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, blessed the city with a relic of the True Cross on April 5.

The annual procession, which recalls Christ’s entry into the city and the beginning of Holy Week, was cancelled in line with international efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, with public gatherings and events suspended in Israel. 

“We decided since we cannot have the palm procession, to have anyway a moment of prayer this afternoon,” said Pizzaballa on Sunday. The archbishop led a short, multi-lingual “moment of prayer” at Dominus Flevit, a church located on the Mount of Olives.

The church, which is shaped like a teardrop, overlooks the city, and was built to mark the Gospel account of Jesus weeping as he envisioned the destruction of Jerusalem.

The prayer service ended with Pizzaballa raising a relic of the True Cross over the city in benediction. 

Jerusalem, said Pizzaballa, “is a symbol of the church, the symbol also of humanity. It is the house of prayer for all the people, according to the scriptures.”

“So when we cry [over] Jerusalem, together with Jesus, we cry [over] all our human fraternity, for this difficult moment we are living, for this sad Palm Sunday, this Easter we have to celebrate.”

Pizzaballa said that sadness over being unable to celebrate the liturgical feasts of Holy Week is real, but “maybe, in a way also very true, very essential.” 

“Today we have not celebrated the solemn and beautiful entrance of Jesus to the city of Jerusalem like every year, with faithful from all the parishes of the diocese and with pilgrims from all over the world,” Pizzaballa said during the prayer service.

“We have not raised our palms and olive branches to cry out ‘Hosanna’ to our king, Jesus the Christ.” 

Instead, the archbishop asked Catholics in the Holy Land and around the world to consider what the Lord may be trying to say during these times.

He noted that, while the people of Jerusalem in the Gospel greeted him with cheers on Palm Sunday, Jesus knew that “He came to Jerusalem, not to be on the throne like David, but to be put to death.” 

“The meaning that Jesus attributes to his ‘triumphal entry’ is different from the meaning that the people of Jerusalem saw in it,” he said.

“Perhaps this is the lesson that Jesus wants to teach us today. We turn to God when there is something that harms us. When we are in trouble, suddenly we all want to ask big and difficult questions.”

While people may be praying for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic as we often do for solutions  to other problems, the archbishop said that  “Jesus responds in His own way” to these prayers. 

“Precisely because Jesus says ‘yes’ to our deepest desires, He will have to say ‘no’ to our immediate desires,” he said.

Drawing comparisons between this year's Palm Sunday and the biblical Palm Sunday during Christ's earthly life, Pizzaballa said the story of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem “is a lesson on the discrepancy between our expectations and God’s response.” 

The crowd who greeted Jesus was disappointed that their salvation was not immediate, said Pizzaballa, but “Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is truly the moment when salvation is born.” 

“The ‘Hosannas’ were justified, even if not for the reasons the Jerusalemites had supposed,” he said. 

This remains true today, he explained. Although it may seem as though God is not answering prayers and leaves people “disappointed,” this is in part because “our expectations remain without an apparent response.”

Christianity, he said, “is based on hope and love, not certainty,” and that while God will not answer all problems with certainty, “He won’t leave us alone.” 

“And here, today, despite everything, at the gates of His and our city, we declare that we really want to welcome Him as our King and Messiah, and to follow Him on His way to His throne, the cross,” he said.  

“But we also ask Him to give us the strength necessary to carry it with His own, fruitful love.”

CNA Staff, Apr 20, 2020 / 10:40 am (CNA).- The cathedral of the Archdiocese of Cape Town, South Africa, was vandalized on Saturday and the tabernacle desecrated. In a statement on the incident, issued on Sunday, an auxiliary bishop of the diocese requested prayers from the faithful and donations to help feed the poor of Cape Town. 

“It is with great sadness and alarm that we confirm the news that has been doing the rounds on Social Media that the Cathedral has been vandalized,” said a message from Bishop Sylvester David, OMI, published Sunday, April 19. David is an auxiliary bishop of the Cape Town archdiocese. 

Bishop David said that various sacred objects had been stolen in the course of the break-in including “a ciborium, a pyx, four silver candelabra, a gold plated chalice, and two gold plated patens.” Money was also taken from the votive offering box, he said.

In addition to the robbery and damage, and more concerning to the Church, the vandalism included Eucharistic desecration.

“The consecrated hosts from the ciborium have been left inside the tabernacle but the host from the pyx has been removed,” said David. “There has been desecration.” 

The vandalism of St. Mary’s Cathedral occurred sometime of the early hours of Saturday, April 18. The damage was reported to the Cape Town Central Police when it was discovered the following day by the cathedral caretaker. 

South African media reported that in addition to the thefts, vandals ripped the tabernacle door off the hinges, and tore up carpets. Media reports estimated that the damage to the cathedral was more than R100,000, approximately $5,400 USD. 

This was the second time the cathedral has been targeted for a break-in.

Bishop David acknowledged that while the archdiocese was itself the victim of a crime, the acts of vandalism and desecration meant that “reparation has to be done,” and that each parish church of the archdiocese would be sent special prayers to offer.

“We request that all the faithful in the Archdiocese to join with the Cathedral parishioners and to engaged in the prayer which will be sent out to the Parish priests for distribution. It is important that the entire local Church engage in this as the Cathedral is the Mother church,” he said. “This prayer does not replace other daily prayers but supplements them.”

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, the Archdiocese of Cape Town suspended the public celebration of Mass on March 17.

Additionally, David requested that those who are able make a donation to the Archdiocese of Cape Town’s account in order to provide food for the poor. 

“We wish to thank you for the many expressions of the faith especially during this difficult time of the shutdown and wish you a meaningful Easter season,” he said. 

CNA Staff, May 1, 2020 / 12:09 pm (CNA).- The Turkish foreign ministry on Wednesday rejected Turkey's inclusion in a report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, charging that the report comes from a “biased mindset”.

“The report contains baseless, unaccredited and vague allegations as in the past years while trying to portray isolated incidents as violations of religious freedoms through far-fetched accusations,” Hami Aksoy, a spokesperson for the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said April 29.

“The importance attached by Turkey to protect religious freedoms, including those of religious minorities, is expressed at the highest level by our Government officials. Our authorities make it clear that any harm to the religious freedoms of our citizens will not be tolerated,” Aksoy added.

In its 2020 report, USCIRF recommended that the State Department add Turkey, as well as 10 other countries, to a “Special Watch List” of countries where abuses of religious minorities are taking place, but not at a level as severe as in those designated as “countries of particular concern.”

The commission wrote that “religious freedom conditions in Turkey remained worrisome” in 2019, “with the perpetuation of restrictive and intrusive governmental policies on religious practice and a marked increase in incidents of vandalism and societal violence against religious minorities.”

It cited the Turkish government's prevention of the election of board members for non-Muslim religious groups and its limitations on the election of the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople.

The report added that Alevis, a group related to Shia Islam and the country's largest religious minority, “remained unable to gain official recognition for their gathering houses (cemevleri) as places of worship or to exempt their children from compulsory religious classes, despite European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rulings finding that these policies violated Alevis’ rights.”

According to the US commission, Turkish religious minorities “expressed concerns that governmental rhetoric and policies contributed to an increasingly hostile environment and implicitly encouraged acts of societal aggression and violence.”

The report also drew attention to the permission given for a museum, that was originally a Greek Orthodox church and later a mosque, to be reconverted into a mosque. It noted also that president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called for the same thing to happen to the Hagia Sophia, which has the same history.

USCIRF also said the Turkish government has “continued to dismiss, detain, and arrest individuals affiliated with, or accused of affiliation with, the U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gülen, for alleged complicity in a July 2016 coup attempt or involvement in terrorist activity.”

Gülen has lived in the US since 1999, and is considered a terrorist by the Turkish government.

The Turkish foreign ministry charged that Gülen's mention in the report “amounts to deliberately turning a blind eye” to the coup attempt, and added: “We invite the US authorities to earnestly examine the evidence we have provided” about the Gülen movement “and to engage in effective cooperation in line with the spirit of alliance in order to reveal the true nature of this terrorist organization.”

Aksoy added that the recommendation of adding Turkey to a “special watch list” for religious freedom “is a clear indication of the biased mindset behind it and the circles under whose influence it was drawn up.”

“In the report that is supposed to include global trends that threaten religious freedoms, the Commission does not mention a single word about xenophobia, Islamophobia and discrimination on religious grounds that is on the rise in the West and the US,” Aksoy stated.

“This clearly reveals that the purpose of the report is not to protect religious rights and freedoms. It is clear that the Commission, which has been accused of being anti-Muslim in the past, has drawn up this report based on its unwarranted agenda and priorities under the influence of circles that are hostile to Turkey, rather than objective criteria. We recommend the authors of this report to look in the mirror and engage in self-criticism.”

Earlier this year, Turkish authorities arrested a Syriac Orthodox priest on terrorism charges after he provided bread and water to members of a Kurdish separatist group that has been deemed illegal.

CNA Staff, May 2, 2020 / 04:30 pm (CNA).- A man claiming to have killed the murdered Nigerian seminarian Michael Nnadi has given an interview in which he says he executed the aspiring priest because he would not stop announcing the Christian faith in captivity.

Mustapha Mohammed, who is currently in jail, gave a telephone interview to the Nigerian newspaper Daily Sun on Friday. He took responsibility for the murder, according to the Daily Sun, because Nnadi, 18 years old, “continued preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ” to his captors.

According to the newspaper, Mustapha praised Nnadi’s “outstanding bravery,” and that the seminarian “told him to his face to change his evil ways or perish.”

Nnadi was kidnapped by gunmen from Good Shepherd Seminary in Kaduna on January 8, along with three other students. The seminary, home to some 270 seminarians, is located just off the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria Express Way. According to AFP, the area is “notorious for criminal gangs kidnapping travelers for ransom.”

Mustapha, 26, identified himself as the leader of a 45-member gang that preyed along the highway. He gave the interview from a jail in Abuja, Nigeria, where he is in police custody.

On the evening of the abduction, gunmen, disguised in military camouflage, broke through the fence surrounding the seminarians' living quarters and opened fire. They stole laptops and phones before kidnapping the four young men.

Ten days after the abduction, one of the four seminarians was found on the side of a road, alive but seriously injured. On Jan. 31, an official at Good Shepherd Seminary announced that another two seminarians had been released, but that Nnadi remained missing and was presumed still in captivity.

On Feb. 1, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Diocese of Sokoto, Nigeria, announced that Nnadi had been killed.

“With a very heavy heart, I wish to inform you that our dear son, Michael was murdered by the bandits on a date we cannot confirm,” the bishop said, confirming that the rector of the seminary had identified Nnadi’s body.

The newspaper reported that from “the first day Nnadi was kidnapped alongside three of his other colleagues, he did not allow [Mustapha] to have peace,” because he insisted on announcing the gospel to him.

According to the newspaper, Mustapha “did not like the confidence displayed by the young man and decided to send him to an early grave.”

According to the Daily Sun, Mustapha targeted the seminary knowing it was a center for training priests, and that a gang member who lived nearby had helped conduct surveillance ahead of the attack. Mohammed believed that it would be a profitable target for theft and ransom.

Mohammed also said that the gang used Nnadi’s mobile telephone to issue their ransom demands, asking for more than $250,000, later reduced to $25,000, to secure the release of the three surviving students, Pius Kanwai, 19; Peter Umenukor, 23; and Stephen Amos, 23.

Nnadi’s murder is one of an series of attacks and killings on Christians in the country in recent months.

Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja called on Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to address the violence and kidnappings in a homily March 1 at a Mass with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria.

“We need to have access to our leaders; president, vice president. We need to work together to eradicate poverty, killings, bad governance and all sorts of challenges facing us as a nation,” Kaigama said.

In an Ash Wednesday letter to Nigerian Catholics, Archbishop Augustine Obiora Akubeze of Benin City called for Catholics to wear black in solidarity with victims and pray, in response to “repeated” executions of Christians by Boko Haram and “incessant” kidnappings “linked to the same groups.”

Other Christian villages have been attacked, farms set ablaze, vehicles carrying Christians attacked, men and women have been killed and kidnapped, and women have been taken as sex slaves and tortured—a “pattern,” he said, of targeting Christians.

On Feb. 27, U.S Ambassador at Large for Religious Freedom Sam Brownback told CNA that the situation in Nigeria was deteriorating.

“There's a lot of people getting killed in Nigeria, and we're afraid it is going to spread a great deal in that region,” he told CNA. “It is one that's really popped up on my radar screens -- in the last couple of years, but particularly this past year.”

“I think we’ve got to prod the [Nigerian President Muhammadu] Buhari government more. They can do more,” he said. “They’re not bringing these people to justice that are killing religious adherents. They don’t seem to have the sense of urgency to act.”

By Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J.

It’s a wonderful phenomenon—yeast.  It permeates lifeless flour and causes it to rise and expand.  The power of yeast effects the brewing of beer and the making of wine.   The yeast plant is a fungus that grows without limits to its borders.  Only if yeast is alive and active will it interact with the dough.

On her TV program, “Martha Bakes,” the talented Ms. Stewart cannot contain her delight when she makes yeast dough: “Look at the sheen—so soft and shiny! The aroma is “bee-you-tee-ful,” and the fragrance gratifies all the senses!” Follow these instructions: proof active yeast, blend it into the flour mixture, and let it rise to double the size.  From yeast dough come baked goods such as breads, sticky buns and sugar buns, and monkey bread.  “Soo pretty, soo delicious,” Ms. Stewart swoons over her culinary works of art.

Yeast as a Metaphor

In the Matthean parable (13:33), the reign of God is like yeast that a woman took and kneaded into three measures of flour.  Eventually the entire mass of dough began to rise.  The image of yeast was a favorite in the Early Church.  Everyone understood the inner power of yeast with its limitless ability to make things grow, even in small beginnings with “three measures of flour.”  They grasped the comparison.  The yeast referred to the Church as an unlimited and growing reality, “destined ultimately to be present everywhere and to affect everything, though by no means to convert everything into itself” (Walter J. Ong, “Yeast: A Parable for Catholic Higher Education,” America Magazine, April 7, 1990).  The Church is catholic because it has always been expanding into new and shiny ‘dough’ without limit. Katholicos, from kata or kath and holos, means “through-the-whole or “throughout-the-whole.”

The Laity: Worldly and Yet Unworldly    

The laity are catholic, yeast in business and finance, entertainment, nursing and medicine, arts and science, law and law enforcement, politics, and sports.  They are the inner power with its limitless ability to make things grow, even in small ways. The laity find their holiness in the world with its financial concerns and family responsibilities.  Those who marry and have children become not just a family but also the Domestic Church.

In 1987, the Catholic Church held a World Synod on the Laity, one of many, beginning with Vatican II in the 1960s.  According to the synod’s final document, the laity are equal with clergy and consecrated religious in the life and mission of the Church.  

The call to holiness of the laity differs from the vocation of consecrated religious.  The laity are to be in the world in an unworldly way.  They approach life with wisdom that teaches the limited and relative value of material things. This would seem to be a contradiction in terms.  How to be worldly and unworldly at the same time?   It cannot be easy, for at times, the challenges seem insurmountable.  Yet, it remains for the lay vocation to find a theology of being present in the world. It is a practical spirituality of the family and the workplace.  For the laity, this is where holiness resides.*  

Holiness of the Laity

The holiness of the laity began with Jesus himself.  He was a rabbi and teacher, as were his disciples. Peter was a married man, and for all we know, so were the other apostles, the exception being John, the Beloved Disciple.  

St. Paul addresses and refers to those he evangelized as ‘saints,’ meaning that they were on their way to becoming saints.  In the Early Church, there were no consecrated institutes of men and women.  All Christians grasped the importance of living as disciples and ambassadors of the Lord.

As increasing numbers of Christians came to view the world as wicked, they flocked to the desert to live alone. When the desert grew so overcrowded with these solitaries, they came together and formed religious communities.  Thus, the start of monastic orders of men and women.

Prayer

Consecrated men and women, and especially those who live in cloisters, spend several hours a day in prayer.

This is not the way of the laity. Their days focus almost entirely on family and the means of supporting it.  Their prayer is measured not in hours but in minutes—two here, five there, perhaps a Holy Hour or Retreat Day on rare occasions.

The conciliar document on the sacred liturgy encourages Catholic families to pray portions of the Liturgy of the Hours (#102-111).  The Hours are not private or devotional prayer but the prayer of the entire Church, the Church at prayer.  Praying the psalms nourishes Catholic family life whose welfare is daily beset with conflicting external forces. If prayer is the underlying power of strong family life, then parents can find ways to incorporate parts of the Hours into their daily schedule. In prayer, married couples derive the strength of God’s grace to live their married vocation.  

As children mature, they too must learn to travel the road to discipleship in the Lord.  Small children can be taught to pray a psalm or two at bed time. If this is not feasible during the week, then prayer on weekend is an alternate possibility.  

A minimal and external Christianity will not fortify today’s Domestic Church but only a vibrant Christianity in which Christ is a living reality.  It takes a few minutes to pray short sections of the Hours, even on public transit.  It is a consoling thought to recall that “in him, we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).  

At Pre-Cana instructions, couples can learn the practice of making the Hours an integral part of their married life.

Can Yeast Corrupt?

The image of yeast is not always positive.  In First Corinthians 5:6-8, St. Paul mentions what all Jews understood.  At the Paschal festival time, they were to destroy all yeasted products because leaven was a metaphor for the corruptive influence of evil, for puffing up the self, leaving no room for God.   

Proofing the yeast in warm water will yield bubbles around the surface, and the yeast will become puffed up if it does not interact with the flour dough.  The puffed up yeast will die.  In this sense, neither the laity, nor any minister in the Church, can afford to be puffed up with pride.

Élisabeth Leseur (1866-1914) and Félix Leseur (1861-1950)

The story of Élisabeth Arrighi Leseur exemplifies the limitless power of marital love.  Élisabeth was born into a wealthy French Catholic family of Corsican descent.  As a child, she had contracted hepatitis, a disease from which she suffered all her life.  At twenty-one, she met Félix Leseur, a medical doctor, who also came from an affluent Catholic family.  Shortly before they were to be married, Élisabeth discovered that Félix was no longer a practicing Catholic.  Soon he became well known as the editor of an anti-clerical, atheistic newspaper.  

Despite the circumstances, the couple married, for Élisabeth was deeply in love with Félix.  They were unable to have children, a fact that made their marriage all the more difficult.  His attack on her religious devotion prompted an even more serious fidelity to the faith. She bore the brunt of his hatred of the Church with patient love.  At thirty-two years of age, Élisabeth experienced the grace to a deeper form of prayer.  She was convinced that her task now was to love her husband and pray for his conversion while remaining steadfast during his taunts against religion, and the Church in particular.

Homebound and Bed-Ridden

Élisabeth’s deteriorating health forced her to lead a sedentary life.  She received visitors and was able to conduct a vibrant apostolate from the confines of her home.  She became a devotee of St. Francis de Sales who wrote for the layperson in the seventeenth century. His Introduction to the Devout Life, perhaps the most famous spiritual guide of all time, is an offshoot of the Ignatian Exercises. During this period, Élisabeth kept a secret spiritual diary.  

When, at the age of forty-five, Élisabeth underwent surgery and radiation for the removal of a malignant tumor, she recovered and continued to receive visitors to her home. Three years later, she succumbed to cancer.  Her life has been recommended for sainthood. Why?  We turn the page to continue the narrative of her husband.

Dr. Félix Leseur

After Élisabeth’s death, Félix found a note addressed to him.  Not only did it predict his conversion, but he would also become a Dominican priest.  His hatred of the Church prompted him to expose her note as a fake, and he decided to do so at Lourdes, the famous Marian shrine in France.  There, something prevented him from carrying out his intended project—call it God’s intervening grace. As Élisabeth had predicted, he experienced a conversion and published her spiritual journal.  In 1919, Félix entered the Dominican Order, was ordained a priest four years later, and spent his remaining years speaking about his wife’s difficult yet remarkable life with him.  

In 1924, the future Archibishop Fulton J. Sheen made a retreat under Fr. Leseur’s direction.  It was at this time that he learned of Élisabeth’s life and her husband’s conversion.  In 1934, Fr. Leseur, O.P. worked to begin the cause for her canonization, and the Archbishop shared the story of this remarkable married couple in many presentations.  Élisabeth is currently a Servant of God, the first step in the cause for sainthood.

Élisabeth Leseur’s suffering was not wasted. On the contrary, her lifelong devotion to Félix was central to his conversion.  She became the yeast that permeated the lifeless soul of her husband.  It forever transformed his life so that he could affect change in the lives of others. Love begets love.

*The Ignatian “Prayer for Finding God in All Things” by Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. can help the busy person find God throughout the day.  Copies are available from the Institute of Jesuit Sources, Boston, MA.

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