South Korean bishops call for unity

BISHOPS in South Korea have urged politicians to put partisan conflicts to one side as the country prepares to elect a new President, after a final verdict of the country’s highest court confirmed the impeachment of the former President Yoon Suk Yeol. Mr Yoon was arrested on insurrection charges after declaring martial law last December, and this week’s decision by the Constitutional Court means that new elections have to be held within 60 days. It was confirmed on Tuesday that the election would be held on 3 June. In a statement last Friday, the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, the Bishop of Suwon, the Rt Revd Matthias Ri Long-hoon, said: “We must choose a leader who deeply understands that presidential power is power delegated by the people, power in service to the people, and who has the attitude and will to sacrifice at all times to protect the lives and property of the citizens,” Vatican News reported.

Murder of Haitian nuns condemned

TWO nuns have been killed in Mirebalais, Haiti, the RC news agency Crux has reported. Sisters Jeanne Voltaire and Evanette Onezaire, who were members of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of St Thérèse of the Child Jesus, and worked in administration for a school, were killed by armed men during an attack on the town on 31 March. Two school workers were killed alongside the nuns as they sheltered in a building near the school, and reports suggested that other civilians were killed or injured in the attack. A spokesman for the Bishops’ Conference, Fr Marc-Henry Siméon, told Crux: “They hid in a house along with two school employees. The criminals discovered they were there and just killed the four of them.” Mirebalais still remains under control of the gangs, and the victims’ bodies could not be recovered. In a statement, the Bishops’ Conference said that the killing of the nuns “was a hateful crime that reminds us of the extent of the evil that makes our society gangrenous”.

Uganda ‘on the edge’ RC bishops warn

A PASTORAL letter from Roman Catholic bishops in Uganda has decried the moral state of the country. Bishop Joseph Anthony Zziwa, who chairs the Uganda Episcopal Conference, was quoted by Vatican News: “The nation is on the edge. A change of direction is urgently needed.” The bishops identify increasing poverty, youth unemployment, corruption, tribalism, and the silence of the Church as factors in the national malaise, according to reports. “It is part of the Church’s mission to pass moral judgement in all spheres of human life,” Bishop Zziwa said. Meanwhile, one of the signatories of the letter, the Archbishop of Kampala, the Rt Revd Paul Ssemogerere, urged journalists to promote messages of peace and accountability, and to not “inflame tensions”. Speaking at a diocesan event, Archbishop Ssemogerere said that the media should aim to “foster understanding and responsible civic engagement”, and also called on politicians to “promote the common good”, Vatican News reported.