Heir of Hong Kong: "I'll Hold My Tong"

It was a celebration in Hong Kong yesterday as Bishop John Tong Hon took up his mandate as coadjutor to the city's shepherd, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun.

Hong Kong's longtime vicar-general and its auxiliary since 1996, 68 year-old Tong (above left, with Zen) was named the "special administrative region's" ordinary-in-waiting late last month. In his first high-profile remarks since the appointment, local reports indicated that, in keeping with B16's China strategy, Tong's ascent would see a tonedown of Zen's outspoken stance on Mainland Affairs:

Tong Hon said he would like to be a "bridge" between the Holy See and Beijing. He would be prepared to be flexible but would stick to Vatican principles.

"The principles are there. But there is some degree of freedom on how to interpret the principles or how to materialise them. I will not say if it is a milder approach or not. It all depends on how other people view it," he said.

"But we should also hold up justice. We should endorse what is right and criticise what is wrong. We cannot scarify the principles in exchange for better relations."...

Bishop Tong is an expert on the Chinese church and runs the Holy Spirit Study Centre, a research institute whose primary task is to gather and analyse information about the church in China....

The appointment has... raised concerns that the diocese might soften its stance on democracy while seeking to smooth Sino-Vatican relations.

Bishop Tong hinted yesterday that he would not be as outspoken as Cardinal Zen on Hong Kong politics.

Cardinal Zen has been a strong voice in support of local democracy. Last year he took the unprecedented step of joining a march for universal suffrage in 2012.

Bishop Tong declined to discuss his political stance yesterday but said: "There are many talents in the church. It is not for one single bishop to speak up all the time ... my role is to play as a bridge."

Given the red hat by Pope Benedict in 2006, Zen turned 76 in January. A key player in Sino-Vatican relations, the Salesian cardinal's forceful advocacy of democracy in the former British colony once led to his dubbing as the "Viagra of Hong Kong."

PHOTO: South China Morning Post

-30-

In Hong Kong, Holding His Tong

On Wednesday, the Pope accepted the age-induced resignation of the "Viagra of Hong Kong" -- the city's bishop, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, who's gained global recognition for his "stout" offensive in favor of greater religious freedoms in mainland China.

Completing a transition begun early last year, the 77 year-old cardinal was immediately succeeded by his coadjutor, Bishop John Tong Hon, who's been perceived as a more diplomatic voice and, ergo, one more amenable to the leadership in Beijing, whose goodwill is a crucial priority for B16 & Co.

At his first meeting with the Hong Kong press following his accession, the new head of the "world's busiest diocese" -- who, in a sign of the authorities' favor, was invited to and attended last summer's opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics -- put his moderate line in the spotlight:

Tong said he would not take part in the annual June 4 vigil to commemorate those killed after pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square 20 years ago, a key issue for his predecessor Cardinal Joseph Zen.

"We will spare no effort... in our role as a bridge Church to the Church in our motherland," Tong told reporters at his first press conference....

"(We will spare no effort) to promote unity among the different groups of the Catholic Church in the mainland, and to see them enjoy full religious freedom as early as possible, so that they can make greater contributions to society."

Zen was a staunch advocate for universal suffrage, taking part in marches on the issue and criticising the slow pace of political reform in mainland China.

He was also a long-time critic of China's restrictions on religious freedom and fought for the vindication for those killed in the 1989 crackdown on democracy protests in Beijing that left hundreds, possibly thousands, dead.

Tong said he would speak out on issues "in the case of clear and gross injustice". He said he would encourage Catholics to participate in politics, but added clergy should not be "captivated by political ideologies and parties" because of their "limited time and energy".

Given precedent, Tong will likely be elevated to the College of Cardinals after Zen reaches his 80th birthday, when the latter becomes ineligible to vote in a conclave.

In his Easter farewell to the post, the cardinal took a parting shot at one of his parishioners -- Hong Kong's Beijing-appointed chief executive Donald Tsang -- voicing his hope that the overseer "would have the 'wisdom' to create a society where there would 'no longer be an ugly trend of toadying to the powerful while despising the weak.'

"China affairs, June 4, will be the matters I will continue to care about," Zen said at a press conference.

PHOTO: Getty Images

-30-

Going to the Games

With 59 days to go 'til the Summer Olympics open in Beijing on 8 August, the Chinese government has extended an invitation to the leader-in-waiting of Hong Kong's Catholic community, Coadjutor Bishop John Tong Hon.

Named to succeed Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun as head of the 350,000-member church in "the world's busiest diocese" late last year, the welcome mat for Tong is being viewed as central command's approving nod to the coadjutor's intent to keep a more conciliatory stance toward the mainland's Communist regime in contrast to the tack of the cardinal:

Tong said he was honored to attend and referenced Pope Benedict's support for the games.

"Not so long ago the Holy Father expressed his blessings towards China for a successful Olympics. I will follow his good wishes and attend this joyous national event as a witness," Tong told the South China Morning Post in Monday's editions.

He will be joined on the two-day trip by the Macau Catholic diocese leader, Bishop Jose Lai Hung-seng, and other religious figures.

Tong's Beijing trip has received Cardinal Zen's support, the paper said.

The invitation is but the latest sign of warming ties between Beijing and the Vatican, following the latter's approval of several episcopal ordinations by the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association -- the state-run "official church" -- and last month's performance for Pope Benedict by the China Philharmonic Orchestra as part of its European tour.

Last week's anniversary of the 1989 Tienanmen Square demonstrations saw Hong Kong host its annual rally and vigil for mainland democracy, with a crowd estimated in the tens of thousands in attendance.

PHOTO: Getty Images

-30-

Perseverance and Communion: Ordaining a Hong Kong Bishop, the Pope Speaks to China

For just the third time in his nearly six-year pontificate, this morning saw B16 preside at an episcopal ordination in St Peter's as the Pope gave the high-hat to five recent appointees to senior posts in the Roman Curia.

Of the high-ranking group, however, one figure was arguably the linchpin of the pontiff's decision to reserve the rite to himself: the newly-named #2 of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, now Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-Fai SDB, a native of Hong Kong -- and, more to the point, the first-ever Chinese tapped to serve in a top Vatican post.

Called to Rome in December amid escalating Sino-Vatican tensions centering on the church's prerogatives in the People's Republic, the 60 year-old Salesian theologian was a visiting professor at mainland seminaries and gave conferences to priests there over the last two decades, alongside his chief assignment at Hong Kong's formation house. In his new post, Hon (below) becomes second-in-command of the church's vast mission efforts worldwide as deputy to the "Red Pope" -- the Indian chief of the historic Propaganda Fide, Cardinal Ivan Dias.

Keeping the custom of his prior ordinations of bishops in 2006 and 2009, the Pope's homily today was a catechesis on the episcopal office. At this morning's Mass, however, the text's subtleties were conspicuously evocative of the situation of the Chinese church in its calls to perseverance and communion as the "pillars" of the prelates' new ministry and, by extension, "the life of the church."

For the record, the latter "pillar" was referenced nearly 70 times in Benedict's 2007 Letter to Chinese Catholics.

Here, via AsiaNews, a snip of today's reflection:

[The new bishops'] mission is to "cast the net of the Gospel in the rough seas of this time to obtain the adhesion of people to Christ" because "it may seem that large parts of the modern world, of the men of today, are turning away from God and consider faith a thing of the past – and yet there is still a yearning for justice, love, peace, to be finally established and poverty and suffering overcome, that people find joy. All this yearning is present in today's world, a yearning for all that is great, for all that is good. It is nostalgia for the Redeemer, God himself, even where he is denied. "

It is a 'great task', which in practical terms requires the four elements that have already been the theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the memory of how the early Christians "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer"(Acts 2:42). They are "the fundamental elements of Christian communion in the Church of Jesus Christ," Benedict XVI traced his homily from the phrase "and they devoted themselves” ["they persevered"]. “Devotion, diligence, belongs to the essence of being a Christian and is fundamental to the pastors task as workers in the Lord's harvest. The Pastor should not be like chaff driven by the wind, a servant of the spirit of the time. Being intrepid, having the courage to oppose the trends of the time, is essential to the task of the pastor. He must not be chaff, but - according to the image of the first Psalm - he must be like a tree that has deep roots, upon which it is solid and well grounded. This has nothing to do with rigidity or inflexibility. Only where there is stability is there also growth. Cardinal Newman, whose path was marked by three conversions, says that living means transforming oneself. But his three conversions and the transformations that took place in them are, however, one consistent journey: the journey of obedience to the truth, to God, the true journey of continuity which in this way brings about progress".

"Perseverance to the teaching of the Apostles", then, means to remember that "faith has a concrete content. Spirituality is not a vague, indefinable feeling for transcendence. God has acted and He truly spoke. He has really done something and he actually said something. Certainly, faith is, at first, trusting in God, a living relationship with God But the God in whom we place our trust has a face and gave us His word. We can count on the stability of His word. "

The second “pillar of the life of the Church” is communion. "Communion with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Jn 1:1-4). God made himself visible and tangible for us and so has created a real communion with himself. We enter into communion through this belief and live together with those whom have been touched by Him. With them and through, we to in a certain way, see and touch the God who became close for us. Thus the horizontal and vertical are here inextricably intertwined with each other. By being in communion with the Apostles, by standing with them in faith, we ourselves are in contact with the living God. Dear friends, the purpose of the ministry of Bishops is that this chain of communion is not interrupted. This is the essence of apostolic succession: to preserve communion with those who have met the Lord in a visible and tangible way, and so keep Heaven open, God's presence among us. Only through communion with the Successors of the Apostles are we also in contact with the incarnate God. But the reverse is also true: only through communion with God, only through communion with Jesus Christ this chain of witnesses, stays together. One is never a Bishops on his won, says Vatican II, but always only in the College of Bishops. Therefore he cannot lock himself up in the time of his generation. The intertwining of all generations, the living Church of every age belongs to collegiality. You dear Brothers - he continued, turning to the soon to be ordained – have the mission of preserving this Catholic communion. You know that the Lord has appointed St. Peter and his successors to be the centre of that community, the guarantors of being in the totality of apostolic communion and His faith. Offer your help so the joy of the great unity of the Church, the communion of all the places and times, so the community of faith that embraces the heavens and the earth remains alive".

Third "fundamental element of the Church's" is the breaking of bread. "The Holy Eucharist is the centre of the Church must be the centre of our being Christians and our priestly life." "Breaking bread - along with what is also expressed in sharing, transmitting our love with others. The social dimension, sharing is not a moral appendix which is added an to the Eucharist, rather it is part of it. This is clear from his verse in Acts which follows the one quoted above: "... All the believers had everything in common," says Luke (2:44). We must be careful that faith is always expressed in love and justice of one towards another and that our social practice is inspired by faith, that faith is lived in love."

Hon will return to Hong Kong later this month for local celebrations of his ordination.

Notably present for today's rites was the recently-named head of the church there, Bishop John Tong Hon, who also attended his first Vox Clara meeting earlier this week as one of several new members of the blue-ribbon committee on English liturgical translations.

PHOTOS: Getty

-30-

Biglietto, 2012

Here, in the Vatican's traditional precedence order, Pope Benedict's slate of cardinals-designate to be elevated on 18 February:

• Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples;
• Manuel Monteiro de Castro, Major Penitentiary of the Roman Church;
• Santos Abril y Castelló, archpriest of St Mary Major;
• Antonio Maria Veglió, president of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Refugees;
• Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Government of the Vatican City-State;
• Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts
• Joao Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for Religious;
• Edwin Frederick O'Brien, grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre;
• Domenico Calcagno, president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See;
• Giuseppe Versaldi, president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See;
  
• George Alencherry, Major-Archbishop of Erkugnalam-Angamaly of the Syro-Malybars;
• Thomas Christopher Collins, archbishop of Toronto;
• Dominik Duka OP, archbishop of Prague;
• Willem Jacobus Eijk, archbishop of Utrecht;
• Giuseppe Betori, archbishop of Florence;
• Timothy Michael Dolan, archbishop of New York;
• Rainer Maria Woelki, archbishop of Berlin;
• John Tong Hon, bishop of Hong Kong

...and likewise, the designates older than 80 -- and, ergo, unable to enter a conclave --who are given the red hat as an "honorary" gesture:

• Lucien Muresan, major archbishop of Fagaras and Alba Julia of the Romanians;
• Fr Julien Ries, Belgian historian/anthropologist of religion;
• Prosper Grech OSA, Maltese Biblical scholar;
• Karl Josef Becker SJ
  

-30-

No Island for Old Pope

His advance-folk might be prepping for Jerusalem in May and March'll see him head to Africa... but one place B16 seemingly won't be going anytime soon is Taiwan.

The Holy See formally maintains its Chinese diplomatic presence in Taipei (albeit without a full-stop nuncio), but keen to maintain the Vatican's relations with the mainland (read: Beijing) on their gradually-improving path, the pontiff reportedly declined an invite to the island for its hierarchy's 150th anniversary next year.

Receiving its bishops last week on their ad limina visit, Benedict pulled together five key themes in his closing address -- catechesis, the family, vocations, the rights of migrants and faithful citizenship.

Priority must also be given to the thorough preparation of catechists. Once again, it is essential to take into consideration the array of settings in which they work and to furnish them with the necessary resources so that they may follow the example of Jesus in speaking the truth straightforwardly and in a way readily accessible to all (cf. Mk 4:11). With their active support, you will be able to draw up well-planned catechetical programmes that employ a progressive and gradual methodology, so that from year to year an ever-deepening encounter with the Triune God may be fostered among your people.

Effective catechesis inevitably builds stronger families, which in turn give birth to new priestly vocations. Indeed, the family is that "domestic Church" where the Gospel of Jesus is first heard and the art of Christian living first practised (cf. Lumen Gentium, 11). The Church, at every level, must cherish and foster the gift of priesthood so that young men will generously respond to the Lord’s call to become labourers in the vineyard. Parents, pastors, teachers, parish leaders, and all the members of the Church must set before young people the radical decision to follow Christ, so that in finding him, they find themselves (cf. Sacramentum Caritatis, 25).

The family, as you know, is that "first and vital cell": the prototype for every level of society (cf. Apostolicam Actuositatem, 11). Your recent Pastoral Letter Social Concern and Evangelization underscores the Church’s need to engage actively in the promotion of family life. Founded on an irrevocable covenant, the family leads people to discover goodness, beauty and truth, so that they may perceive their unique destiny and learn how to contribute to the building up of a civilization of love. Your deep concern for the good of families and society as a whole, my Brothers, moves you to assist couples in preserving the indissolubility of their marital promises. Never tire in promoting just civil legislation and policies that protect the sacredness of marriage. Safeguard this sacrament from all that can harm it, especially the deliberate taking of life in its most vulnerable stages.

The Church’s solicitude for the weak similarly compels her to give special attention to migrants. In several recent pastoral letters, you have indicated the essential role of the parish in serving migrants and raising awareness of their needs. I am also pleased to note that the Church in Taiwan has been actively advocating laws and policies that protect the human rights of migrants. As you know, many of those who arrive on your shores not only share in the fullness of the Catholic communion, but also carry with them the unique cultural heritage of their respective places of origin. I encourage you to continue welcoming them with affection so that they may receive the assiduous pastoral care that will assure them of their belonging to the "family of the faith" (Gal 6:10).

My dear Brother Bishops, by the providence of Almighty God, you have been appointed to keep watch over that family of faith. Your apostolic bond with the Successor of Peter entails a pastoral responsibility for the universal Church across the globe. This particularly means, in your case, a loving concern for Catholics on the mainland, whom I constantly hold in prayer. You and the Christian faithful in Taiwan are a living sign that, in a justly ordered society, one need not fear to be a faithful Catholic and a good citizen. I pray that as part of the great Chinese Catholic family, you will continue to be spiritually united with your brethren on the mainland.

The same day as he met with the Taiwanese, the Pope also received the region's ranking churchman Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, whose hawkish stance toward Beijing has led him to be dubbed the "Viagra of Hong Kong."

Early this year, Benedict appointed a coadjutor to Zen perceived as more favorable to the mainland authorities. As official acknowledgment of this, Bishop John Tong Hon was invited to and attended August's Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in the Chinese capital -- a courtesy not extended to the Salesian cardinal, who turns 77 next month.

Back on the island, in a November interview with a local outlet, the freshly-arrived charge d'affaires at the Taipei nunciature aired his forecast of "no change" in Sino-Vatican relations, at least over the short-term.

While "the Pope hopes to see full and authentic religious freedom" on the mainland and "progress has been made" toward that end, Msgr Paul Russell said that "conditions do not yet correspond to what the Catholic church considers authentic religious freedom."

A priest of Boston, Russell is the second US-born cleric to hold the Taipei post in recent years.

For next year's 150th, the island's bishops have set an ambitious goal of baptizing 15,000 converts.

PHOTO: AFP/Getty

-30-

In China, "It's a War"

For all the local difficulties that could easily keep the Vatican brass up at night, by far, one situation likely trumps all the rest these days.

That distinction belongs to the state of the beleaguered church in China, where recent months have witnessed a spike of tensions that've served to further roil an already tenuous balance between the state-sanctioned "official" church and the "underground" faithful who clandestinely maintain communion with Rome.

Even if secularism and challenges to religious expression in society rate as key concerns on the ecclesial radar in Europe and the Americas, the Chinese drama that's flared in fits and starts over recent years rises to a threat level practically all its own. Because, in a nutshell, while many Westerners have come to be alarmed over external hurdles perceived to limit the presence of faith and the rights of believers in the public square, in the world's largest country, the church is unable to merely exist according to its own determination, its internal governance carried out under the close supervision of the state -- and, often, contingent upon the latter's approval.

Of the estimated 12 million Chinese Catholics, two-thirds are said to be affiliated with the clandestine church. Still, after a period of quiet interaction and public strides toward rapproachment in the wake of the Pope's 2007 Letter to the Chinese church, the temporary thaw between Beijing and Rome blew over last Fall as the government-sponsored Patriotic Catholic Association -- the Mainland's sole legal, public form of Catholicism -- signaled a return to its pre-detente practice of ordaining bishops on its own authority, lacking papal mandate (nor, for that matter, the discreet consultation that briefly had the Holy See signing off on the candidates presented by the state church).

Over the months since December's national PA meeting in Beijing which set the stage for the new appointments -- a gathering for which several clergy with Roman sympathies were reportedly rounded up by the civil authorities and forced to attend -- matters have only worsened. Following a first illicit ordination in November, a second rite was provocatively scheduled on last months' feast of Saints Peter and Paul, and today brought another of what could be as many as ten Patriotic-church elevations over the course of the coming months.

Notably, at least some of the clerics ordained by the PA were elected by the clergy and lay representatives of the dioceses in question. In at least two reported instances, though, the prelate chosen was the lone candidate on the ballot.

* * *

Much as it's been somewhat muted in mainstream news, the Vatican has taken to responding to the developments with a rare ferocity, publicly lobbing warnings of excommunication at the ordaining bishops and the candidates presented to them -- provided, however, that the participants were not made to perform the rites under force. And given said context, recent days have again brought reports that prelates in communion with Rome were either kidnapped or otherwise pressed to ensure their presence at the ordinations.

Shortly after the Holy See's "law office" released a lengthy statement outlining the penalties for illicitly-ordained bishops and "call[ing] for the bishops involved" in the liturgies "to recover their authority through signs of communion and penance," the Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi spoke of the Pope's "pain and concern" over the deteriorating situation following today's move. And elsewhere, the church's veteran lead voice on Chinese matters, Hong Kong's retired Cardinal Joseph Zen SDB, described the current state of affairs as "war" at a New York press conference held in response to the ceremony.

Earlier this week, Zen took out a half-page ad in a Hong Kong newspaper calling on Chinese President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to halt the Mass. On his retirement in 2009, the 79 year-old cardinal was succeeded by Bishop John Tong, a considerably more moderate voice on Mainland matters. (The appointment made amid the high season of Sino-Vatican calm, Tong's promotion was widely considered a Roman concession to Beijing.)

In the background, meanwhile, the downturn of relations has made for a significant first test for the Holy See's newA-team on China policy: Archbishop Savio Hon (above), a Hong Kong native and now #2 of the church's missionary office, who became the first-ever Chinese named a senior Vatican official late last year, and his freshly arrived boss at the Propaganda Fide, Archbishop Fernando Filoni, a veteran of the Hong Kong-based "study mission" that, during the 1990s, served as the Vatican's quiet diplomatic back-door to the Mainland.

Between them, the two bring an unprecedented depth of contacts and on-ground experience to Rome's dealings with the Forbidden City. Even amid the almost historically grave circumstances, expectations remain high that they'll be able to craft some sort of resolution, albeit with a strong awareness that no lack of time or delicacy is certain to be needed for the task.

In the meanwhile, though, signs of lasting progress that were felt to be increasingly possible not all that long ago -- high among them, a move of the Holy See's Chinese nunciature from Taipei to Beijing -- are now indefinitely on ice.

* * *

Sure, this isn't the sexiest of stories -- and one that, to some, might seem too far removed to matter terribly much in our own orbits.

In a church that's interconnected by definition, though, nothing -- or, for that matter, no one -- is ever "too far" to not be close to each of us... and in a world that's ever more catching up with a concept of communion, a shifting balance of power promises to have global implications over the decades to come, and not just on the political or economic fronts.

Along those lines, a strong commentary was published in the wake of today's latest ordination by the Rome-based editor of the comprehensive, influential AsiaNews website, the Italian missionary Fr Bernardo Cervellera, that Benedict's "pain and concern" shouldn't just be his alone, and calls out to be felt more, both in the church and the wider world:

The Pope’s "pain and concern," is due to the fact that through these moves to dominate the Church in China, the patient work of mending bonds between the underground and official Church that John Paul II and Benedict XVI both attempted, is unravelling. A divided church is slow to evangelization and moreover, it fails to guarantee its right and space for religious freedom from the Chinese Communist Party which, in theory, the same Chinese constitution allows....

The "pain and concern" is also for the lives of [its] bishops. Because of the Shantou ordination, Mgr. Paul Pei Junmin of Liaoning has not been able to leave his diocese, helped by all the priests who were with him to praying continuously for days, to prevent their bishop being kidnapped. Another pastor, Mgr. Cai Bingrui Xiamen managed to hide. But he is now wanted by the government authorities. Last December, another bishop, Mgr. Li Lianghui of Cangzhou (Hebei), went into hiding in order not to have to participate in another gesture against the Pope (the Assembly of Representatives of Chinese Catholics). The police hunted for him for days like a "criminal" and after finding him, forced him to three months of isolation and brainwashing to convince him of the Party’s "good intentions" towards the Church. It is possible that Mgr. Pei and Mgr. Cai have been subjected to isolation and political sessions, to tear them from their ministry and destroy them from a psychological point of view.

With all of this, we must say that those sharing the Pope’s "pain and concern," are all too few.

And first of all, they are too few in the Church. The World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, commissioned and implored by Pope Benedict XVI with the appeal of last May 18, found few dioceses ready to pray for the Church in China, its persecuted and "opportunistic" bishops.

Not to mention civil society. By now, the Yangtze River’s white dolphin, which risks extinction due to pollution in China, provokes a greater outcry than the extinction of freedom in a country that is destined to rule the world, but which uses heavy handed methods without batting an eyelid.

A rosé of presidents further encourages this attitude (including the Italian president) as well as Secretaries of State, who visiting China never fail to eulogise the "positive path" taken by Beijing on human rights, while – beyond bishops and priests - thousands of activists, petitioners, artists and writers are imprisoned and forcibly silenced....

It is not just a case of simple greed, of interest in the Chinese market, it is a matter of short-sightedness in not seeing that attacks on religious freedom, sooner or later, become attacks on all freedoms.

Indeed, even as many in the West might feel this "attack" on one front, across the globe, it's being experienced to a degree most of us couldn't fathom.

Luckily, though, it's not as if this church has to resign itself to look on powerlessly: not just in Rome, after all, the Catholic world is blessed with resources, networks, numbers, conviction -- above all, a voice -- to seek the good and to speak to the many wounds of this hurting world... but especially when they involve our own who're being made to suffer precisely because they're one with the rest of us.

That's not to say the world will change overnight, but if things are ever going to improve, it's gotta start somewhere, right? Ergo, even barring the bigger stuff, as a brutal story plays out for our own a world away, but not far at all from any of us, may we know the grace to simply be mindful of it, to use what we have to aid those who don't... and, no question, to remember how blessed we are in our own freedom, and to exercise it to its most life-giving result.

PHOTOS: Reuters(2,3)

-30-