“A World Of Wonder And Delight”: Christmas Messages 2011…
- December 26th, 2011
- Posted by EUEditor
Christmas celebrations in 2011 were marked with calls for the protection of innocents, love of family, and salvaging of the Earth itself.
Pope Benedict XVI in Rome said the earth was “stained with blood”, praying for the victims of war in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa, and for victims of natural disasters.
The Christian festival, as sometimes will happen, saw the creation of martyrs. More than forty people were killed in a round of bigotry and religious hysteria in Nigeria, by bombs set off while they were in church, on Christmas Day (25.12.11). Blasts were recorded in the capital, Abuja, Jos in the centre of the country, and other places, in the North-east. Friction between Christian and Islamic communities in Nigeria has got worse in recent years. … Read More »
At week’s end the drive continues to provide relief for thousands in the bitter cold, after the earthquake on Sunday in Eastern Turkey.
A pan-European effort is being made to control bad forest fires raging in Greece and Albania during the last week.
The mobilisation of international aid for the Horn of Africa this week has spotlighted a drawn-out, historical human crisis, brought on above all by drought.
COMMENTARY: Anger and fresh critiques have emerged over the handling of the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan. 
The report identifying 42 million people forced to leave their homes by natural disasters, last year, from the Norwegian Refugee Council, says it is getting worse because of climate change. 
Germany’s decision to get out of nuclear power, decided on the weekend (29-30.5.11), will see seven suspended plants stay shut, and nine more closing down by 2022.