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Vie de l'église

Lithium mines threaten South America’s Native cultures, wealth and water

Irene Leonor Flores de Callata, 68, treks along a bone-dry riverbed, guiding a herd of llamas and sheep through stretching desert.

Flores de Callata’s Native Kolla people have spent centuries climbing deep into the mountains of northern Argentina in search of a simple substance: fresh drinking water.

Here, in one of the most arid environments in the world, it’s a life force that underpins everything.

In rainy months, the sacred lands surrounding their small adobe town of Tusaquillas well with water. In the dry months, families hike miles under the beating sun, hopeful their livestock can sip from a small plastic container, fed by a hose running high into the distant mountains.

Today is a lucky day. Their blue container is brimming with fresh water.

But communities like hers increasingly worry that their luck may run out. That’s because the parched waterways surrounding their town are intrinsically connected with spanning white salt flats below, subterranean lagoons with waters jampacked with a material that’s come to be known as « white gold » — lithium.

In the « lithium triangle » — a region spanning Argentina, Chile and Bolivia — Native communities sit upon a treasure trove of the stuff: an estimated trillion dollars in lithium.

The metal is key in the global fight against climate change, used in electric car batteries, crucial to solar and wind energy and more. But to extract it, mines suck water out of the flats, tethered to the lives of thousands of communities like Flores de Callata’s.

As the world’s most powerful increasingly look toward the triangle, the largest reserve of lithium on Earth, as a crucial puzzle piece to save the environment, others worry the search for the mineral will mean sacrificing that very life force that has sustained the region’s Native people for centuries.

« We will lose everything, » said Flores de Callata. « What will we do if we don’t have water? If the mines come, we’ll lose our culture, we won’t be left with anything. »

___

At the same time Flores de Callata’s town and thousands of others across the lithium triangle have lived quietly off the sparse food and water their lands offer, the price for lithium skyrocketed in 2022.

Between 2021 and 2023, the price for 1 ton of lithium in U.S. markets nearly tripled, reaching a high of $46,000 a ton last year, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report. In China, the main customer of the region’s lithium, a ton of the metal went for a whopping $76,000 at its peak last year.

‘What will we do if we don’t have water? If the mines come, we’ll lose our culture, we won’t be left with anything.’
—Irene Leonor Flores de Callata 

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Leaders, mining executives and companies from across the world look to the region’s barren deserts both as a source of wealth and an engine to power the transition to green energy.

The « white gold » they seek is contained in the hundreds of salt flats, or salares, speckling the region.

From afar, they look like fields of Arctic snow, but below are deep wells of salted groundwater packed with minerals. Unlike other forms of mining, lithium here is extracted not from rock, but rather from the brine water pumped from the salt flats.

The salt flats also act as an essential part of a highly biodiverse ecosystem, say scientists like Ingrid Garcés, a hydrologist from Chile’s University of Antofagasta.

While the water inside the lagoons is not drinkable, they are tethered to surrounding fresh water sources, sparse rains and nearby mountain streams, essential for the survival of thousands of Indigenous communities.

Scientists interviewed by the AP said that industrial-scale water pumping both contaminates fresh water with brine they pump and effectively dries up the surrounding environment. They say it’s produced cascading ripple effects for life in the region at a time it’s already been hit by climate change-induced drought

« We’re talking about a living ecosystem, because what you’re extracting from this salt flat is water. And water is life, » Garcés said. « Think of it as an interconnected ecosystem. »

Because of their environmental significance, the salt flats and their surrounding waters have gained a sacred place for Indigenous cultures, an essential part of Native celebrations the entire month of August.

Flores de Callata’s town is one of 38 pressed up against two such salt flats — the Guayatayoc lagoon and Salinas Grandes — which bring income to towns like hers through tourism and small-scale salt harvesting.

At the beginning of any day of work, Flores de Callata’s family makes an offering to Pachamama, an Andean deity representing the Earth. Inside their stone corral of llamas and sheep, they dig a hole in the ground, burying coca leaves, meant to represent life, and a clear liquor, representing water.

Just as the basin provided for the Kolla people, fundamental to their culture is giving back to the land. For decades, their collective of communities have fought off large-scale mining and waged long legal battles to halt projects.

But year by year, it’s grown more difficult to fend off those mining companies.

More than 30 companies are officially seeking permission to mine the water in the two salt flats. Signs put up by the community line the edges of the flats reading, « Respect our territory. Get out, lithium company. »

Things came to a head last summer when the local government, eager for the profits by the mines, changed its constitution, making it easier to waive certain Indigenous land rights and limiting the ability to protest against the expansion of mining.

Alicia Chalabe, the environmental lawyer representing the communities, and others argue the move violates international law.

Thousands of Indigenous people protested, blocking off roadways used by lithium mines and carrying rainbow Indigenous flags. The backlash by authorities toward peaceful protesters was marked by violent repression and arbitrary arrests, according to groups like Amnesty International and the United Nations. Yet protests are only expected to continue.

Argentine concerns are born in neighboring Chile, where lithium mining has been in full force for decades in the Atacama Desert, the driest place on Earth.

Giant black tubes pumping salted groundwater run like veins through the cracked, white earth of the Atacama Salt Flat. They wind past roaring yellow bulldozers and workers in bright orange vests.

The flat is home to the two lithium companies operating in Chile, SQM and American-owned Albemarle.

« We’re living through a crisis in which we have big obstacles, but we also have solutions. Lithium represents one of those solutions, » said Valentín Barrera, a spokesperson for Chile’s largest lithium mine, SQM. « We want to grow, understanding that it’s needed to mitigate climate change. »

Here in the SQM mine, that means pumping at least 1,280 liters of salted groundwater a second — somewhere between 6 to 8 bathtubs — according to the mine’s numbers. The tubes converge at rows of blue, green and yellow pools, where lithium-concentrated water is passed pool to pool.

The harsh desert sun evaporates the water, and strong winds often blow it out of the ecosystem, carried as far as Brazil, one mine official said. Because of the evaporation process and harsh winds, hardly any water can be reinjected into the soil. It leaves behind salt and lithium, to be processed and used by some of the world’s biggest companies like Tesla.

Meanwhile, surrounding communities have watched their lands shrivel.

Farmers living near the mines complain of smaller crop yields.

Flamingos, feeding on microorganisms within the brine, have slowly been killed off by mining, a 2022 study showed. Their eggs were once a crucial part of the local diet, and the birds continue to be a big part of Indigenous celebrations.

Wells and lagoons next to the mines brimming with intense blue fresh water dried up. The grass livestock would once eat has vanished, he said.

In 2013, an environmental inspection found that a third of the carob trees — a plant known to survive in harsh environments — near the SQM mine had died. Many more trees were withering.

In 2022, SQM was ordered to pay $51.7 million to correct the damages caused by six infractions, including transparency concerns and contamination of fresh water wells. 

« With the information we have available, we can say there has been no fundamental change in the surroundings (of the mines), » Barrera said.

He attributed court rulings and criticisms to « disinformation, » and cast blame on state-run copper mines, also heavy water users. The mine’s director later said that the water the lithium mines pump is slowly refilled by rain and fresh water in the mountains, a water source for local communities.

An Albemarle spokesperson insisted that the brine water they pump « is not water » because it is not drinkable.

Nearly a dozen scientists that spoke to The Associated Press said it is almost inconceivable that the heavy water use would have no environmental impact.

___

Lithium mining has also sparked an economic boom in parts of Chile.

Since the beginning of the Native Atacama people, generations of Ramon Torres’ family guided their pack of goats along the rolling hills of Peine, a town sitting at the mouth of Chile’s salt flats. 

When companies started extracting lithium in the early 1980s, Ramon Torres was among the people to raise his hand. He worked the tinted pools, going from subsisting like his parents and grandparents to saving.

Today, he sits on the porch of his small brick house scrolling through his smartphone, both purchased with the money he earned from the mine. Cherry-red trucks loaded with miners rumble past his home on their way to a long day of work as the sun rises.

« There is development, but there’s also the water issue. And they contradict each other, » he said. « Because everyone needs money, everyone also needs the basics, like health care and education. »

That same tension has divided mining towns like his in both Chile and Argentina: The economic benefits of lithium are undeniable. Mining makes up a whopping 62% of Chile’s exports, a crucial backbone to the country’s economy.

The money that the mines have brought has rippled across Peine. Torres now works building homes for and rents to mine workers that have flooded the region. 

Companies advertise investment projects in nearby towns, touting mobile dental clinics and soccer fields, in many ways filling the endemic absence of the Chilean government.

While brush and other greenery in the surrounding lands withered long ago, fresh water still arrives in Peine through artificial channels and water centers built by the companies, flowing from fresh water wells in nearby peaks.

Communities higher in the mountains say they now feel the effects, too, but without the perks from the companies.

Meanwhile, legal clashes with the mining companies have sowed tensions in Indigenous communities. Long-held traditions like ranching and shared community work have faded. Younger Atacameño generations leave their towns, often favoring work in the mining sector, leaving Indigenous communities with smaller populations.

A 2020 U.N. report said that mining has consumed 65% of water around the Atacama Salt Flat, « causing groundwater depletion, soil contamination and other forms of environmental degradation, forcing local communities to abandon ancestral settlements. »

Researchers say that the worst effects of current pumping may only be felt years down the line.

« When the mines leave, what’s going to happen to us? » Torres said. « Mining is all we have left. »

As lithium mining has gained a greater global spotlight, the fate of water in the region has increasingly fallen out of the hands of those communities.

In April 2023, progressive Chilean President Gabriel Boric announced a plan aimed at offsetting the environmental impacts of the lithium sector by boosting government control of the lithium mines.

Government officials told the AP a new plan would allow them to better regulate water use and distribute wealth beyond « just a small few. » But plans spurred outrage among Indigenous communities who said they were once again sidelined by government negotiations with the mines.

The move also had an adverse effect of pushing mining companies to invest in neighboring Argentina, where lithium mining’s explosion has just begun.

Doors for the mining companies have also been left wide open under the country’s new right-wing « anarcho-capitalist » leader Javier Milei, who was elected in November, under a promise to fix his country’s spiraling economy.

He has announced a broad deregulation sweep, slashing costs for mining companies in an effort to lure investors amid deepening economic crisis. Milei’s rise to power will likely further hamstring efforts by Indigenous communities to beat back mining companies.

While nearby Bolivia sits on more lithium than either country, its stores have largely remained untapped.

Meanwhile, the region has also increasingly become part of a larger tug of war between global powers like the U.S. and China as both countries seek to take advantage of the deep lithium stores. The Biden administration has also sought to offset growing Chinese influence in the region, with officials even claiming Chinese investment in the lithium sector is a democratic threat. 

Meanwhile, to Irene Leonor Flores de Callata and her small town of Tusaquillas, the mounting interest in their home represents another nightmare scenario.

She looks at the stretching salt flats, and the water that has breathed life into their barren land.

She looks at her small corral of livestock she has spent decades leading to through the desert.

And Flores de Callata looks at the adobe house she and her husband built from nothing, where her grandchildren now wrap their arms around her on the way home from school.

She wonders what will be left in 20 years.

« If the mines come, we’ll have money for a time. But then our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren — they’re the ones who will suffer, » she said. « I want to do everything possible to defend these lands, so they still have these fields, so they still have their waters. »

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Vie de l'église

Loyola Chicago conference notes Gen Z’s role in securing food on warming planet

On the roof, in the lobby and elsewhere around the School of Environmental Sustainability at Loyola University of Chicago, students are growing lettuce, eggplant, tomatoes and more in bunches.

The hands-on learning labs of the Jesuit school’s urban agriculture program offer a glimpse into the future of farming. Just as critically, they reflect developing strategies to shift agriculture from an accelerant of climate change to a key mitigation tool, said Amanda Little, author of The Fate of Food: What We’ll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World, at the opening of Loyola Chicago’s annual climate change conference.

« The impacts of climate change on food production are evident everywhere, » she said in her keynote address March 14. « There are no regions of the world, no types of crops unaffected, and the pressures themselves are incredibly varied. »

As one U.S. Agriculture Department scientist told her, « The single biggest threat of climate change is the collapse of food systems. »

In face of that threat, Little said her years researching and reporting have revealed that solutions and innovations are growing, with younger generations of food producers and consumers playing an important role. 

‘Agriculture, which has long been a driver of climate change, has the extraordinary advantage of being able to transform from sinner to saint.’
—Amanda Little 

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« Agriculture needs Gen Z. And Gen Z is beginning to transform and shift the definition of what agriculture can be, » Little said. (Gen Z typically refers to people born between 1997 and 2012.)

The focus of the two-day conference at Loyola Chicago was on climate change’s impact on global food production and security as well as strategies to develop equitable, resilient and sustainable food systems on a heating planet.

It’s through food that most people will experience the impacts of climate change, said Little, a journalism professor at Vanderbilt University. Rising temperatures are already disrupting global food production in ways that affect nearly every aisle of the grocery store. 

In recent years, Citrus crops in Florida have been wiped out, as were peaches in Georgia. Hotter, drier conditions in California strained avocados and almonds. Excessive rains prevented potato harvests in Ireland. Coffee rust continues to damage coffee plants in Central America. Olive oil production declined in Spain as well as Italy, which also lost its title as top wine producer due to extreme weather. Drought and wildfires in the Pacific Northwest stressed hops production, a key ingredient in beer.

« Climate change is becoming something we can taste, » Little said. « This is a kitchen table issue in the literal sense. » 

At the crux of the issue is a rising global population — and especially, an increasing middle class with diverse and protein-dense diets — while arable land globally is expected to decline 2% to 6% every decade due to stresses from climate change.

As climate change increases drought conditions and reduces crop yields, food insecurity is accelerating worldwide, with more than 600 million people lacking reliable food supplies, and 45 million people near famine.

The stresses that extreme heat and drought place on farming are felt most intensely by the 500 million smallholder farmers around the world, Little said, with the majority in already hot, dry countries along the equator.

A prediction in a 2014 report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — global warming could reach a threshold where current agriculture practices can no longer support large human civilizations — led Little to pivot her reporting from energy to agriculture, investigating the « radical changes » in coming decades in the ways people grow and eat food.

Her reporting took her to apple orchards in Wisconsin, tiny cornfields in Kenya, Norwegian fish farms and « computerized foodscapes » in Shanghai. What she saw was the emergence of « a third way to our food future, » one which marries principles of old-world, organic agriculture with state-of-the-art farming technologies that have been at odds for decades.

« Agriculture, which has long been a driver of climate change, has the extraordinary advantage of being able to transform from sinner to saint, » she said. 

Regenerative agriculture is improving soil health, allowing it to sequester more carbon — with the world’s farmlands capable of absorbing as much carbon as what’s emitted from the global transportation sector. Numerous ancient plants can withstand extreme climate conditions, as can crops designed through genetic modification and gene-editing tools like CRISPR.

Technologies like AI robotics and drones help reduce agrochemicals, and meat alternatives dramatically lower carbon emissions while freeing up land used for cattle grazing for reforestation, said Little, a self-described « failed vegan and struggling vegetarian. »

Along with increasing crop diversity, decentralizing food production is crucial to build more resilient food systems, she said. The growth in urban vertical farms, using hydroponic and aquaponic techniques like those taught at Loyola Chicago, can reduce water use by as much as 90% in some cases, while limiting food waste and greenhouse gas emissions from transporting food from fields to cities.

Asked how to accelerate U.S. agriculture toward more sustainable practices, Little said the answer was simple: Vote, especially among younger generations.

« We need good policies that support and encourage sustainable farming and that advance and protect local and regional food webs, which are totally overlooked, and the current Farm Bill, » she said. 

On March 15, the conference’s second day, a series of panels further unpacked climate change’s impact on food at the global level, within the Midwest and in Chicago.

With an estimated 1,700 registrants, the ninth edition of Loyola Chicago’s climate conference was perhaps its largest yet. 

In the past two decades, the Jesuit school has become a leading Catholic institution on environmental issues. To date, Loyola Chicago has cut campus carbon emissions 70% and expects to be carbon neutral by January 2025. A new university climate action plan will aim for decarbonization, or elimination of all fossil fuel use on campus.

The School of Environmental Sustainability enrolls more than 500 students in seven undergraduate programs and two master’s programs, with a number of them researching and experimenting with the future of how our food will be grown. Through its rooftop greenhouse and urban farm, students harvest roughly 3,500 pounds of food a year, with 1,500–2,000 pounds going to food pantries. 

At the end of her talk, Little cited figures from the latest agricultural census that showed the average American farmer is 58 years old, up roughly six months from 2017. Farmers ages 65 and older increased by 12% over the same timeframe.

The conclusion was clear, she said: The farmers growing the food on dinner tables today are nearing the end of their careers. 

« Agriculture needs Gen Z, » she added, noting that more first-generation farmers are entering the field — even if not a literal farm field but labs and facilities like those at Loyola Chicago.

« I think Gen Z has great promise to bring us into a new era, » Little said, « in which human innovation that marries new and old approaches to food production can, and I think we have good reason to believe will, redefine sustainable food on a grand scale. » 

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Fifth Sunday of Lent: A God who gambles on love

When I was 4, I told my mother that I was running away and would never come back. She replied that any child of hers who ran away and never came back would receive a punishment she/he would never forget. Well, that was enough for me! (Logic was not my strong suit then.) At the same time, her dealings with us made it obvious that no child of hers could quash her motherly love — no matter what we did.

Today, Jeremiah gives us an image of a motherly God who wants nothing to do with punishment. When the people break their covenant with the God who freed them, what does God do? God turns to them to offer a better deal than they had known before. 

God had brought them out of Egypt; when they were unfaithful, God said, « I will make a new covenant with you. This covenant will join us heart to heart. It will affect you so deeply that our mutual love will teach the world all they need to know about me. »

Ours is a God who gambles on love — over and over again.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus explains the same dynamic in relation to his life and mission. As he did in predicting his passion (see Mark 8:31-38 and its eight parallels), Jesus revealed that, as God’s representative, he would prove the boundless power of love through vulnerability, becoming like a seed that falls to the ground and dies in order to produce fruit. 

The most Godly thing about Jesus’ vulnerability was that, unlike our own weakness and limitations, it was freely chosen (John 10:18). The most amazing thing about it was that it revealed the true character of God as a divine lover who constantly tries to woo us beyond our broken covenants and our attempts to fashion the divine in our own image.

Today, we hear from the Letter to the Hebrews, a work that seems to have been a long sermon (a synagogue « message of encouragement ») slightly revised to function like a letter. Who wrote this letter is a mystery, but some scholars suggest that it was Priscilla, the woman who, along with her husband Aquila, collaborated with Paul and continued his ministry. In that case, it may be the only New Testament work (and recorded synagogue sermon) written by a woman.

The Letter to the Hebrews aims to strengthen a community under persecution and in danger of denying their faith. Today’s selection emphasizes Christ’s complete solidarity with us in all things and it highlights his example for those undergoing temptation. The author carefully explains that Christ himself suffered and cried out to « the one who was able to save him from death. » 

She goes on to say, « He was heard. … Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered. » We might note that although he cried out to the one who could save him, evil forces ultimately succeeded in killing him.

Hebrews tells us that Jesus himself went through a process of growth in union with God; he had to learn to trust beyond reasonable hope in order to experience what God could do in and for him. His faithfulness to God’s call, his reliance on love over all else, opened him to the unimaginable future of resurrected/eternal life. In that, he revealed God’s glory, the power of God to bring life out of death. 

From Jesus, we learn that divine power is the most subversive force in all of creation. Rather than crush opponents, God’s power undermines evil and the violence it perpetrates. As Mahatma Gandhi explained, « Love is the strongest force the world possesses, yet it is the humblest imaginable. »

Ultimately, the greatest leap of faith Christians are invited to take is to believe in this entirely counterintuitive and countercultural idea that the forces of humility, generous love, and tender, nonviolent creativity are the instruments of world change. This is Jesus’ message. He taught that falling into the ground and dying lead to ousting the ruler of this world. 

Christ’s ongoing offer is to draw everything to himself. To believe that is to have faith that when the forces of evil unleash their worst, they ultimately expose themselves impotent against love. 

As we draw near Holy Week, our liturgy invites us to reassess the creed we really live by. 

Do we look to Christ to be delivered from punishment or harm? If so, what does the cross tell us about that? Are we willing to gamble everything on the power of love? To the extent that we choose the latter, we are on our way to being drawn into the very heart of a motherly God.

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Vie de l'église

Pope swaps leaders at abuse commission, months after reports on priest’s financial dealings

Pope Francis on March 15 appointed new leadership to his papal commission on clergy sexual abuse, naming a Colombian prelate and a former U.S. bishops’ conference official to run the group’s day-to-day operations.

The shake-up in leadership follows the resignation of one of the commission’s most prominent members and comes months after reports about the outgoing secretary’s previous financial dealings raised questions about his suitability to lead a group tasked with promoting best practices for preventing misconduct and abuse.

Oblate Fr. Andrew Small, a dual British and U.S. national, had served in an interim capacity as the No. 2 official at the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors since 2021. He will be succeeded by Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera, currently auxiliary bishop of Bogotá, Colombia, who Francis appointed as the group’s new secretary.

Alí, a psychologist, has already served as a member of the commission. Since 2022, he has worked as the secretary general of the Colombian bishops’ conference. 

Serving alongside Herrera will be Teresa Kettelkamp, a former U.S. law enforcement official who previously led the office of Child and Youth Protection for the U.S. bishops. Kettelkamp, who Francis appointed as an adjunct secretary, has served as a member of the commission since 2018. 

Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who has served as the president of the commission since its creation by Francis in 2014, remains in that role. His mandate is expected to come to an end in June, when O’Malley reaches the age of 80, the mandatory retirement age for Catholic bishops.

In a statement, O’Malley said Ali is currently the longest serving member of the commission and that Kettelkamp had previously led one of the largest national safeguarding offices in the U.S. church. 

« As Members of the Commission for many years, they reflect a strong focus on continuity of the work and agenda of the Commission since its expansion in 2022, » said O’Malley. « They are well known among the community of safeguarding professionals, and I am confident they will bring a team-based approach to our common work. »

The cardinal also praised what he called Small’s « vision and tenacity » in his work for the commission.

Questions have swirled about Small’s future for nearly a year, after an Associated Press investigation in May 2023 revealed details of financial dealings he undertook in his previous role as the national director of a Catholic organization in the U.S. tasked with directing money toward the church’s missions in developing countries.

The report detailed the transfer of at least $17 million from the Pontifical Mission Societies to an impact investing operation created by Small. The priest had initially continued to lead that operation while serving in the Vatican role.

Small has denied any financial wrongdoing and did not respond to NCR requests for comment last year in regard to the report.

The situation of the commission has sparked outrage from a number of leading abuse survivors and their advocates, including former members of the Vatican’s abuse commission. At least one of those members called for an internal investigation into Small’s financial dealings.

Three days after the initial AP report about Small was published, Francis went off script when speaking to a gathering of the Vatican’s missionary fundraisers to warn of the risk of corruption among their ranks.

« If spirituality is lacking and it’s only a matter of entrepreneurship, corruption comes in immediately, » the pope said at the time. « And we have seen that even today: In the newspapers, you see so many stories of alleged corruption in the name of the missionary nature of the church. »

NCR later confirmed that the pope directly referred to the AP article in a meeting with Spanish journalists earlier that same day.

Beyond the Pontifical Mission Societies, Small had also previously worked as a foreign policy adviser to the U.S. bishops’ conference.

While Small has been praised for his fundraising prowess — including overseeing moving the commission into a new office in an historic 16th-century palazzo in the center of Rome — former commission members repeatedly raised questions about his leadership. They have also raised questions about the group’s independence from Vatican structures, following a 2022 overhaul of its members and operations. 

In March 2023, Jesuit Fr. Hans Zollner, a long-time adviser to the pope on clergy abuse, resigned from the commission after publicly raising serious questions about its leadership. At the time, O’Malley defended the body’s effectiveness, while pledging to address the concerns raised by Zollner. 

In light of the upheaval, former commission member and abuse Irish survivor Marie Collins, along with former Irish President Mary McAleese, co-authored a letter to the pope in May 2023 alleging that the commission had suffered « existential damage, » and asking Francis to intervene to save the group. 

Over the following months, ongoing questions about Small’s suitability for the role continued to emerge. 

A Dec. 25, 2022, post by Small of him holding a 3-month-old puppy, describing himself as « feeling blissful in Vatican City » and with the text « Merry Christmas from me and Mancia. She’s 3 months old. Keeping the minors safe! » was widely circulated among both Vatican officials and abuse survivors. It prompted concerns about his use of social media, where he was seemingly joking about the issue of child protection.

Earlier this month, the commission met in Rome for its regularly scheduled plenary meeting and announced that it would soon release its « pilot annual report » on safeguarding policies at the pope’s request.

The report, which is expected in June, will offer « recommendations on how to move forward in achieving the goals of truth, justice, reparation » and to prevent child sex abuse in the church, said the commission.
 

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Vie de l'église

Attacking Pope Francis, anonymous cardinal seeks to curb the influence of his papacy

Autocratic, vindictive, careless, intolerant and ambiguous are just some of the slurs directed at Pope Francis by Demos II, an anonymous cardinal who published a letter in late February laying out a strategy to make sure that Francis’ influence ends with his papacy.

He — or they; rumor has it there were multiple authors — calls himself Demos II after another anonymous Demos, later identified as Cardinal George Pell, who two years ago issued a document criticizing Francis’ pontificate. Pell could not be Demos II since he died last year. Pell’s document was titled « The Vatican Today« ; the new document is « The Vatican Tomorrow. » 

Such public attacks by cardinals who have sworn loyalty to the pope have been unheard of in modern times. No liberal cardinal issued such a document during the papacies of John Paul II or Benedict XVI.

Centuries ago, such an attack would be grounds for a cardinal’s execution for violating his oath and being a traitor. Today, the cardinal should lose his place in the College of Cardinals and his right to participate in a conclave, but he probably won’t.

I have no problem with disagreeing with the pope — I have done it myself — but it should be done openly and respectfully.  

Demos II is a fraud who mourns a church of the past and his own loss of power in it. 

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It is noteworthy that this cardinal and his friends had no problem with the autocratic and intolerant actions of John Paul and Benedict. These popes routinely silenced bishops and theologians who disagreed with them. Seminary professors were fired; theologians were forbidden to publish. No such actions have been taken by Francis.

The anonymous cardinal wants to return to the days of suppressing theological discussion in the church, to rid it of « ambiguity. » He is outraged that the pope encourages theological discussion and debate, and wants to return to a pre-Vatican II church where nothing changes. He seems to happily side with those prelates at the council who opposed any changes in church teaching or practice.

The pope, on the other hand, knows that discussion and debate is the way theology develops, which is essential if the church is going to communicate with people in the 21st century.

Those who believe that the pope is fostering ambiguity in the church cannot distinguish between the faith and how we explain the faith. They have no sense of history or the development of dogma. They appeal to Augustine or Thomas Aquinas but have no true understanding of them.

The genius of both these figures was that they took the avant-garde thinking of their times and used it to explain the faith: Augustine used Neoplatonism, and Aquinas used Aristotelianism.

If the church is to be true to its tradition, we should imitate Augustine and Aquinas, not simply quote them. Theologians should be free to experiment with new ways of explaining the faith, using modern philosophy, literature and science.

Jesuit priest and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin used evolution to explain the role of Christ in the cosmos in a way that spoke to contemporary Christians. He, like Aquinas before him, was condemned by church authorities before he was accepted by them.

The cardinal and his friends instead only want to use the church’s ancient texts as a treasure chest of quotes with which to hammer their opponents.

The anonymous cardinal also attacks Francis for not governing the church collegially with his brother bishops, but his real complaint is that the pope is not doing what the cardinal wants him to do.

Pope Francis has been more collegial than any other pope in history, as can be seen in the way recent synods of bishops have been run. At Francis’ first synod, he encouraged bishops to speak boldly without concern for what he or others thought. He even told them to imitate St. Paul, who criticized St. Peter, the first pope, at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15).

Francis did this because he knew many bishops were frustrated by the synods held under John Paul and Benedict, where participants were told what topics could not be discussed. Vatican officials’ complete control of these synods gave them the feel of Soviet assemblies where the only purpose of the meeting was to praise the great leader. Most of the speeches quoted the pope to himself, as if he did not know what he had said.

The synods of Francis have been the freest ever.

In one area, the Demos II is correct. Francis has not consulted the College of Cardinals as much as did John Paul, who revived consistories as a place for discussing issues facing the church. Francis discontinued this practice, although he did create a council of nine cardinals with whom he consults periodically.

Some thought John Paul’s innovation was inconsistent with the synodal system, which has elected as well as appointed members. Others thought it would lead to a consultative system with two houses, the synod and the consistory, which would be like the House and Senate in the United States, or the British House of Commons and House of Lords.

But Demos II’s objection is more straightforward. The discontinuation of the consistories has reduced the influence of the cardinals. Being a cardinal, he does not like that.

One advantage of the consistories was that cardinals got to know each other prior to a conclave.

As an example of Francis’ intolerance and vindictiveness, conservative commentators point to the removal of the American conservative Cardinal Raymond Burke as head of the Apostolic Signatura, the church’s highest judicial authority. They conveniently forget how Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, head of the Vatican office for interreligious dialogue, was exiled to Egypt by Benedict.

Let’s all agree that popes have the right to appoint and remove Vatican officials.

In truth, Demos II is a fraud who mourns a church of the past and his own loss of power in it.

He has no consistent ecclesiology. He asserts that the church is not a democracy, but publicly releases his diatribe in the hopes of swaying public opinion to pressure the cardinals at the next conclave.

Make no mistake about it, this document is about power and influence in the church. Demos II has been sidelined, and he is angry.

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Pope: Church must stop protecting abusers ‘who hide behind their position’

The work of protecting minors and other vulnerable people in the Catholic Church involves holding those in positions of power accountable for the abuse they commit, Pope Francis said.

The church’s safeguarding efforts « must undoubtedly aim at eradicating situations that protect those who hide behind their positions to impose themselves on others in a perverse way, » the pope wrote in a message to participants in a safeguarding conference.

In the message, released March 12, he also said the church must try to understand why such people are « unable to relate to others in a healthy way. »

The papal message was sent to a three-day conference in Panama City organized by the Research and Formation Center for the Protection of Minors, also known as CEPROME Latin America.

Titled « Vulnerability and Abuse: Toward a Wider View of Prevention, » the conference was designed to discuss « the handling of power and authority in the church » and to broaden conversations about abusive conduct beyond the crime of sexual abuse to include « abuses of power, authority, conscience and spirituality, » organizers said.

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which was one of the groups involved in organizing the conference, had announced March 8 the approval of a study group « to examine the reality of vulnerable persons in the context of the Church’s ministry and how this informs safeguarding efforts. »

In his message to the participants in Panama City, Francis wrote that God is calling the church to « an absolute change in mentality regarding our conception of relationships, » and that Christians must give priority to « the least, the poor, the servant (and) the uneducated over the greater, the rich, the master, the learned, based on the ability to accept the grace that is given to us by God and to make ourselves a gift to others. »

« Seeing one’s own weakness as an excuse to stop being whole persons and whole Christians, incapable of taking control of their destiny, will create childish, resentful people and in no way represents the littleness to which Jesus invites us, » he wrote. Instead, the pope urged the participants to imitate St. Paul who « boasted in his weaknesses and trusted in the grace of the Lord. »

Yet Francis wrote that the church « cannot be indifferent to the reasons why some people accept to go against their own conscience, out of fear, or allow themselves to be deceived by false promises, knowing in their heart of hearts that they are on the wrong path. »

« Humanizing relationships » in society and the church, he wrote, « means working hard to form mature, coherent persons who, firm in their faith and ethical principles, are capable of confronting evil (and) bearing witness to the truth. »

He added that any society that lacks such moral integrity will be « ill, with human and institutional relationships perverted by selfishness, distrust, fear and deceit. »

More than 20 members of CEPROME’s advisory board from throughout Latin America met with Francis at the Vatican in September 2023. They discussed methods for advancing abuse prevention and the pope condemned the accessibility of child pornography.

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Cardinal McElroy: Pope’s climate vision not getting enough attention from US bishops

Pope Francis’ call for the world to address the coming consequences of global climate change has not garnered enough attention at the U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference, said a leading American cardinal.

In an exclusive interview with National Catholic Reporter in late February, San Diego Cardinal Robert McElroy said the pope’s environmental vision « has not gotten the attention of the conference that it should get, and that the pope is calling us to get. »

« It has not been institutionalized in the conference in the same way that other major initiatives and priorities within the life of the church in the United States have been, » said the cardinal, speaking in an interview for NCR’s « The Vatican Briefing » podcast. 

McElroy, who has led the San Diego Diocese since 2015 and was made a cardinal by Francis in 2022, was speaking in particular about reception among U.S. bishops of the pope’s 2015 environmental encyclical « Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home, » which called for dramatic action to confront climate change.

The « most important » part of the encyclical, said the cardinal, « is Pope Francis’ assertion of what is Catholic faith: that nature is graced, that God has given us the gift of the created order and it’s our responsibility to sustain [it]. » 

« And now it’s in danger on a variety of fronts, » said McElroy. « So, with the eyes of faith, we’ve got to see this is God’s gift which is in jeopardy now. »

The cardinal was speaking to NCR on the sidelines of a conference hosted at the University of San Diego, which included some 80 bishops, theologians and Catholic leaders for two days of conversation to reckon with what was described as the failure of the U.S. church to implement the pope’s environmental teachings.

In the interview, McElroy said the Catholic Church « needs to be … a leading voice in the world on the dangers to our environment. »

« Creation is not just a thing that we encounter, » said the cardinal. « It’s not disposable. It’s not something given to us simply to use and toss away. »

Addressing climate change, he said, is « a moral, religious, spiritual challenge. »

« It’s not primarily even a scientific challenge, » said McElroy. « It’s a moral challenge. »

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En India diseñan mecanismo para denunciar abusos en la Iglesia contra hermanas

La Hna. Leena Padam confía en que las monjas católicas de la India dispongan ahora de una plataforma para « una escucha adecuada y una legítima resolución »  de sus abusos.

« Hasta ahora, las religiosas de la India no sabían dónde comunicar sus abusos, pero hoy tenemos una plataforma para compartir nuestros problemas sin temor a represalias », dijo Padam, miembro de las Hermanas de la Caridad de Nazaret, a Global Sisters Report.

Padam formaba parte del centenar de monjas que asistieron a una jornada de formación especial sobre la Célula de Reparación de Abusos (CRA), una iniciativa de la Conferencia de Religiosas de la India desarrollada en Calcuta, ciudad oriental de este país.

La conferencia puso en marcha la célula el 10 de diciembre de 2023 mediante un programa virtual para más de 100 000 religiosas católicas de la India. Este espacio permite escuchar los abusos de las monjas, reconocerlos y encontrar una solución mediante el diálogo.

« Definitivamente, es un rayo de esperanza para las monjas, sobre todo para las jóvenes », afirmó Padam tras la formación impartida del 19 al 21 de enero de 2024, la segunda para educarlas sobre el objetivo de la célula, y a la que asistieron hermanas de los estados del norte, este y noreste de la India.

La primera jornada de formación se celebró del 27 al 29 de diciembre de 2023 en la ciudad de Bengaluru, en el sur de India, y estuvo dirigida a monjas de estados del sur.

Padam, una activista social afincada en Ranchi, capital del estado oriental indio de Jharkhand, señaló: « Generalmente, cuando una monja se queja de un sacerdote o de una autoridad eclesiástica dentro de la Iglesia, no se le cree. Incluso, sus superioras tienden a creer lo que dice el sacerdote o el obispo ».

Ahora las monjas pueden dirigirse sin vacilar al canal adecuado: el de la reparación de abusos. « Tienen la seguridad de que serán escuchadas y se encontrará una solución a sus problemas, si es posible dentro de la estructura eclesiástica », afirma.

La hermana Maria Nirmalini, del Carmelo Apostólico, responsable de los más de 130 000 religiosos y religiosas católicos de la India, califica la célula de pertinente y oportuna. « A pesar de todos los sistemas y cuidados de que disponemos, algunas circunstancias desafortunadas pueden llevar a un sentimiento de aislamiento extremo, incluso cuando uno forma parte de una comunidad y una familia », declaró a GSR.

Nirmalini cree que la célula es « una forma de reconocer esta necesidad e intentar, por todos los medios, [de] proporcionar alivio en la medida de lo posible dentro » de su comunidad.

El impulso para poner en marcha la célula fue un libro sobre la discriminación de género dentro de la Iglesia en la India, publicado por la sección femenina de la conferencia en 2018.

El libro, It’s High Time: Women Religious Speak Up on Gender Justice in the Indian Church (Ya es hora: las religiosas hablan sobre la justicia de género en la Iglesia india), señala el chantaje sacramental, los abusos sexuales del clero, el clericalismo y las disputas por la propiedad como algunos de los principales retos a los que se enfrentan las religiosas católicas en el país.

El libro de 86 páginas, escrito por un equipo de tres miembros dirigido por la hermana Hazel D’Lima, ex superiora general de la Sociedad de las Hijas del Corazón de María, también destaca la « injusticia de género » que sufren las monjas católicas bajo la Iglesia patriarcal.

La Hna. Elsa Muttathu, religiosa de la Presentación y secretaria nacional de la Conferencia de Religiosos de la India, que dirige las formaciones, lamenta que en muchos casos ni siquiera las monjas sean conscientes del tipo de abusos que sufren dentro del sistema.

« Formamos a las monjas para que comprendan las distintas formas de abuso, no solo sexual sino verbal y de otro tipo, y les decimos cómo dirigirse a la célula », dijo Muttathu a GSR.

Muttathu explicó que tienen un comité de selección de tres miembros que primero estudiará la queja y, si la considera cierta, la remitirá a otro comité de nueve miembros.

« El comité está formado por cinco monjas, un sacerdote religioso o un hermano. Los demás miembros son personalidades femeninas eminentes que conocen bien el funcionamiento de las religiosas católicas », detalló.

La secretaria nacional de la Conferencia de Religiosos de la India también dijo que no se permite a ninguna superiora general formar parte de este comité, para mantener así su neutralidad y su funcionamiento eficaz. « En la mayoría de los casos, las monjas acuden al CRA después de no haber obtenido justicia de sus congregaciones », señaló.

« La jurisdicción del comité se sitúa en el marco eclesiástico y no emprenderá una lucha legal en un tribunal civil. Sin embargo, si el asunto requiere atención jurídica, apoyaremos al denunciante que recurra a la justicia, pero no nos implicaremos directamente », declaró Muttathu.

Según el borrador de directrices elaborado por la conferencia, un miembro abusado puede presentar una queja a la célula por teléfono, por escrito o por correo electrónico. Una vez presentada, se acusará recibo de la misma en un máximo de siete días laborables.

El acuse de recibo incluye un número único de reclamación y el modo de seguir su evolución.

Sin embargo, la Célula de Reparación de Abusos no tramitará asuntos que estén en manos de un tribunal o bajo investigación policial.

La directriz promete resolver una queja normal en 30 días. Una denuncia compleja y delicada llevará más tiempo, y la célula informará al denunciante del retraso.

Si un denunciante no responde a la respuesta escrita de la célula en 45 días, el asunto se considerará cerrado.

La célula garantiza la confidencialidad de la identidad del denunciante y de los detalles de la denuncia, a menos que lo requiera un organismo externo para resolver la crisis, también con consentimiento previo.

La célula actuará como un tribunal civil: notificará al acusado, solicitará una respuesta por escrito, interrogará a los testigos e investigará los hechos, entre otras medidas.

El objetivo de la célula es cerrar incluso un caso grave en un plazo de 90 días para evitar retrasos en la obtención de justicia para el denunciante.

Anita Cheria, activista de derechos humanos afincada en el estado de Bengaluru, en el sur de India, dijo que « la idea de este mecanismo es transformar la vida religiosa en felicidad y valía ».

« Dentro de la Iglesia católica existen muchos sistemas, pero aun así me he encontrado con monjas en situación desesperada que se ven empujadas a tomar medidas extremas como el suicidio o el abandono de la congregación », declaró a GSR Cheria, laica católica y una de las personas encargadas de impartir la formación.

En algunos casos, a la denunciante se la trata como una alborotadora en la congregación y se la aísla, sin dejarle espacio para abordar su problema.

« En algunos casos, las superioras defienden al acusado, lo que hace más vulnerable a la denunciante », afirma Cheria.

Desde 1997, más de 20 monjas se han suicidado en India, la mayoría en Kerala, bastión cristiano del sur. 

Cheria afirma que una audiencia habría ayudado a muchas a evitar medidas extremas. « La nueva iniciativa es un gran paso adelante para abordar los problemas a los que se enfrentan las monjas dentro del sistema patriarcal », explica.

La hermana Nambikai Mary, secretaria de la unidad de Tamil Nadu y Pondicherry de la conferencia, en el sur de la India, afirma que ahora las monjas sienten que tienen un lugar en donde serán escuchadas. 

Mary, miembro de la orden de Santa Ana de la Providencia, que asistió a la formación en Bengaluru, dijo a GSR: « Las monjas sufren acoso de distinta naturaleza dentro y fuera de la organización eclesiástica, pero la mayoría de las veces son incapaces de levantarse y oponerse a ellos porque carecen de apoyo dentro de la congregación o de la Iglesia ».

La Célula de Reparación de Abusos « no es un mero consuelo, sino una fuente de fortaleza », estima Mary.

Por su parte, Muttathu dijo que la formación no se limita a los abusos dentro de la Iglesia, sino que también cubre leyes importantes como la Ley de Protección de Menores contra Delitos Sexuales de 2012 —una ley federal para proteger a los niños de todas las formas de abuso sexual— y la Ley de Prevención del Acoso Sexual en el Lugar de Trabajo.

La ley sobre el lugar de trabajo exige que cada organización defina sus políticas de acoso sexual, sistemas de prevención, procedimientos y normas de servicio para sus empleados, entre otras cosas, dijo la secretaria nacional Conferencia de Religiosos de la India Elsa Muttathu.

Cheria felicita a la sección femenina de la conferencia por la creación del CRA, pero advierte que « es un gran reto sacarlo adelante en una Iglesia patriarcal »; sin embargo, agrega que « como se ha creado en el marco de la CRI, tiene legitimidad », y por eso espera que poco a poco « las autoridades eclesiásticas acepten este cambio en la India, ya que el Vaticano tiene tolerancia cero con los abusos de todo tipo ».

Nota: Este artículo fue publicado originalmente en inglés el 15 de febrero de 2024. 

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Pope Francis: Ukraine should have courage of the ‘white flag,’ negotiate end of war with Russia

Pope Francis said in an interview that Ukraine, facing a possible defeat, should have the courage to negotiate an end to the war with Russia and not be ashamed to sit at the same table to carry out peace talks.

The pope made his appeal during an interview recorded last month with Swiss broadcaster RSI, which was partially released on March 9.

« I think that the strongest one is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people and has the courage of the white flag, and negotiates, » Francis said, adding that talks should take place with the help of international powers. 

Ukraine remains firm on not engaging directly with Russia on peace talks, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said multiple times the initiative in peace negotiations must belong to the country that has been invaded.

Russia is gaining momentum on the battlefield in the war now in its third year and Ukraine is running low on ammunition. Meanwhile, some of Ukraine’s allies in the West are delicately raising the prospect of sending troops.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said March 9 that Francis picked up the « white flag » term that had been used by the interviewer. He issued a statement of clarification after the pope’s « white flag » comments sparked criticism that he was siding with Russia in the conflict.

Throughout the war, Francis has tried to maintain the Vatican’s traditional diplomatic neutrality, but that has often been accompanied by apparent sympathy with the Russian rationale for invading Ukraine, such as when he noted that NATO was « barking at Russia’s door » with its eastward expansion.

Francis said in the RSI interview that « the word negotiate is a courageous word. » 

« When you see that you are defeated, that things are not going well, you have to have the courage to negotiate, » he said. « Negotiations are never a surrender. »

The pope also reminded people that some countries have offered to act as mediators in the conflict.

« Today, for example, in the war in Ukraine, there are many who want to mediate, » he said. « Turkey has offered itself for this. And others. Do not be ashamed to negotiate before things get worse. »

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — whose NATO-member country has sought to balance its close relations with both Ukraine and Russia — has offered during a visit March 8 from Zelenskyy to host a peace summit between the two countries. 

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Fourth Sunday of Lent: A God who gambles on love

Why does God let it happen? We might be talking about the death of a child, an unjust war, the loss of young people to gang life, or even a tornado or flood. 

Some people blame God and then decide to give up on believing, concluding that God is either unkind or untrustworthy. Others are convinced that tragedy is a punishment, even if they can’t name the offense. Still others defend God with justifying explanations like « We can’t understand the divine ways, » or « Somehow it’s for the best. » 

Innocent suffering is one of the most serious problems religions have had to face over the eons and across the globe.

Today’s first reading seems to say that Israel’s exile in Babylon was a punishment for their adding « infidelity to infidelity. » We also hear that the compassionate Lord sent messengers to the people, but that those messengers were mocked and their message ignored. As a result, the people were conquered, their city sacked and the survivors made slaves.

Did God do that?

In the Gospel, we listen in as Jesus and Nicodemus converse. When Jesus says that the Son of Man will be lifted up so that all who see him will have eternal life, the « lifting up, » refers to the cross and resurrection as one event of divine self-revelation.

While that may seem obvious, we shouldn’t think the same of the expression « eternal life. » It’s easy to assume that « eternal life » refers to immortality or heaven, but the New American Bible tells us that the term in John 3:15 stresses quality of life rather than duration. »

Spanish Scripture scholar José Antonio Pagola tells us that the eternal life Jesus promises begins in this life and reaches its fullness in our definitive encounter with God. That means that eternal life is nothing less than union with God.

Writing to the Ephesians, Paul falls all over himself in trying to explain his sense of this communion. In this short selection, Paul mentions grace three times, insisting over and again that we are saved through grace, that is, through God’s favor rather than any merit of our own. 

This grace comes from God, whom Paul describes as rich in mercy, immeasurably giving and great in loving. These teachings about God’s grace lead to his conclusion that we are God’s own handiwork, created for union with Christ and to continue his work. 

How do these ideas help us to reflect on the existence of a good God and a world in which unspeakable evil seems to run rampant?

Before we can respond, we need to examine the question itself. This question assumes that God intervenes directly in the events of history. Is that not one of our many assumptions that has more to do with our theories than with what Jesus revealed about his Father? Yes, Jesus taught that not a sparrow would fall without God’s awareness, but that awareness does not prevent the fall of the sparrow. 

Jesus told Nicodemus that God has no intention of punishing anyone, rather God looks to saving by drawing people into the communion of eternal life.

Following that, Jesus’ being « lifted up, » had nothing to do with condemnation or compensation for human evil. Instead, it exposed God’s loving solidarity with all who suffer and revealed that suffering and evil will never have the last word. 

Paul ended his description of God and grace by saying that we are created in Christ Jesus to continue his good works. If God could do it all, there would be no need for our good works. But the Incarnation itself revealed that God works through human flesh, here now as the body of Christ throughout the world.

Our first reading tells us that God sends messengers « early and often. » We have had the prophets, Jesus, the saints and all who strive to be the body of Christ in our world. What happens to them? Like Jesus, they are often mocked, and scoffed at — even assassinated. What does this teach us?

Jesus said that he was sent into the world so that all who believe could enjoy not a life free of suffering, but communion with God (eternal life). Jesus died in faithfulness to his vocation to embody God’s love in the world. He was slain because the love of God threatened the powers such that they tried to eliminate him. In that most evil of circumstances, God did not stop it, but brought life out of death.

God created, not to control us, but to entice us toward communion. If we believe that God works through us, instead of asking « Why does God let it happen?, » the prophetic question is, « How can people who believe in God and the power of love let it happen? » 

Looking to Jesus, we know where the answer can lead.