Pope makes first trip outside Rome in seven months

Yahoo – AFP, Andrea Bernardi with Ella Ide in Rome, October 3, 2020

Pope Francis prays during mass at the tomb of Saint Francis in Assisi,
during his first trip outside Rome in seven months

Pope Francis on Saturday made his first trip since the Vatican's coronavirus lockdown, though it was a solitary affair for the crowd-loving Argentine due to pandemic precautions. 

Francis visited the central Italian town of Assisi, the birthplace of his namesake saint, where he signed his new encyclical -- a document laying out the pope's views on key issues -- called "Fratelli tutti" on the importance of fraternity and social friendship, particularly during the pandemic. 

In the austere tomb of the Saint Francis of Assisi, Francis held a sombre mass for around 20 mask-wearing faithful. 

The text of encyclical will be published on Sunday, the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, who lived from 1182-1226 and devoted himself to a life of poverty.

 Francis earlier made a surprise visit to a convent of the Poor Clares -- an order founded by Francis of Assisi and saint Clare -- and simply rang the doorbell. 

He also stopped at the Basilica of Saint Clare in Assisi, which houses the remains of Clare, the first woman disciple of saint Francis. 

The gesture could be in response to a growing controversy over whether the encyclical's translated title -- "Brothers all" -- excludes women. 

The Vatican's news website published an editorial called "An encyclical for all brothers and sisters" and emphasised that the Italian title, taken from a quote of Saint Francis, "in no way intends to exclude women". 

After Francis signed the encyclical on the altar at the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, he expressed his gratitude to three Roman Curia translators, encouraging them to come to his side for applause. 

Francis visiting the town of Assisi, the birthplace of his namesake saint

The pope's lockdown 

The pope's last trip was to the southern Italian port city of Bari on February 23 for a meeting with Mediterranean bishops. 

As the virus began to spread around the world earlier in the year, Francis instead reached out through a live-streamed mass, performed alone on Saint Peter's Square. 

"Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities", he said in the historic March address, describing the coronavirus "tempest" as having put everyone "in the same boat", as heavy rain fell around him. 

That, and his lonely walk through the deserted streets of Rome to pray at two churches for the end of the pandemic, captured his isolation, but were also seen by Catholics as signs of solidarity and hope. 

Saturday's pilgrimage to the Basilica of Saint Francis, a UNESCO World Heritage site, marks a milestone in the pope's slow return to normalcy. 

Francis, 83, showed little fear as the virus broke out in Italy in late February, though he was forced to shun his usual practice of shaking hands. 

Apart from suffering a cold early on, his health has remained good. 

"Everyone works in his office or from his room, using technology. Everyone is working; there are no idlers here," the pontiff said in an interview with papal biographer Austen Ivereigh in April. 

That included Francis, who live-streamed his daily masses from Santa Marta, as well as the weekly Angelus prayers and general audience talks. 

While there will be no papal foreign trips this year -- for the first time since 1979 -- the Assisi outing is hoped to go a small way towards charging the batteries of a man who believes a priest's place is with his flock.

UAE abolishes law boycotting Israel

Straits Times - AFP - August 30, 2020

Protesters wave a United Arab Emirates flag during an anti-government demonstration
 in front of the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem. - Protests demanding that
 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resign over several corruption indictments
and his handling of the coronavirus crisis have been mounting in recent weeks, and
the premier has been scathing in his counter-attack. (Photo by Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP)

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates announced on Saturday it had repealed legislation imposing a boycott of Israel after the two countries struck a US-brokered deal to normalise relations.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan issued a federal decree "abolishing the Federal Law No. 15 of 1972 regarding boycotting Israel and the penalties thereof", the official WAM news agency reported.

"It will be permissible to enter, exchange or possess Israeli goods and products of all kinds in the UAE and trade in them."

The UAE will be the first Gulf state and only the third Arab country to establish full diplomatic ties with Israel – a move condemned by the Palestinians as a betrayal.

Companies and individuals in the UAE may now enter into agreements with firms or individuals residing in Israel, WAM reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the decision in a statement later on Saturday.

"This is an important move to advance prosperity and peace in the region," he said.

The UAE move comes ahead of the arrival of an Israeli-American delegation to Abu Dhabi on the first commercial flight from Israel on Monday.

The delegation, led by top aide and son-in-law to US President Donald Trump Jared Kushner and Israeli National Security Advisor Meir Ben Shabbat, will seek ways to boost cooperation in areas including aviation, tourism, trade, health, energy and security, according to Netanyahu's office..

Israel and UAE to normalise ties in 'historic' US-brokered deal

Yahoo – AFP, Mohamad Ali Harissi and Sarah Stewart, August 13, 2020

Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the tallest structure in the world, and a symbol of the oil-rich UAE

Israel and the UAE agreed Thursday to normalise ties in a landmark US-brokered deal, only the third such accord the Jewish state has struck with an Arab nation, in which it pledged to suspend annexation of Palestinian lands.

The bombshell news was broken by US President Donald Trump, in a tweet hailing a "HUGE breakthrough" and a "Historic Peace Agreement between our two GREAT friends".

Establishing diplomatic ties between Israel and Washington's Middle East allies, including the oil-rich Gulf monarchies, has been central to Trump's regional strategy to contain Iran, also an arch-foe of Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a "historic day" and would launch a "new era" for the Arab world and Israel.

US President Donald Trump announced the agreement between the United 

Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize diplomatic ties

The Palestinians strongly rejected the deal, calling it a "betrayal" of their cause, including their claim to Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

They also announced they were withdrawing their ambassador from the Emirates, and demanded an emergency Arab League meeting.

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which runs the coastal Gaza Strip, quickly said the agreement "does not serve the Palestinian cause".

A joint statement by Trump, Netanyahu and UAE's leader Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan announced that they had "agreed to the full normalisation of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates".

It added that Israel would "suspend declaring sovereignty" over occupied Palestinian West Bank areas -- an idea proposed in Trump's controversial earlier plan to resolve the conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a "historic day" and 

represented a "new era" for the Arab world and Israel

Sheikh Mohamed quickly stressed in a tweet that "during a call with President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, an agreement was reached to stop further Israeli annexation of Palestinian territories".

But Netanyahu said shortly afterwards in a national television address that he had only agreed to delay, not cancel, the annexations, that the plans remained "on the table" and that he would "never give up our rights to our land".

The controversial Trump plan, unveiled in January, had offered a path for Israel to annex territory and Jewish West Bank settlements, communities considered illegal under international law.

The Palestinians rejected it outright as biased and untenable, as did Israel's Arab neighbours, and it sparked fears of further escalation in a tense region. 

Protestors confront Israeli forces as a structure serving as a home to a 

Palestinian family is demolished in the southern West Bank on August 11

'Things are happening'

Israel has had difficult relations and several wars with its Muslim and Arab neighbours since its founding in 1948, with most states ruling out relations until the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is resolved.

Thursday's deal would make the UAE only the third Arab country to establish formal diplomatic ties with Israel, after its peace deals with former enemies Egypt and Jordan.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, which signed a treaty with Israel in 1979 to opposition from across the Arab world, praised the deal on "the halt of Israel's annexation of Palestinian land," and said he hoped it would bring "peace".

The deal marks a major foreign policy achievement for Trump as he heads into a difficult campaign for re-election in November.

The city hall in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv is lit up in the colours of

the United Arab Emirates national flag

His presumptive Democratic challenger for the presidency Joe Biden welcomed the "historic" agreement and called the UAE's move a "badly-needed act of statesmanship".

Trump hinted to reporters that more diplomatic breakthroughs between Israel and Arab countries in the region were expected, but gave no further details.

"Things are happening that I can't talk about," he said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described it as "a historic day and a significant step forward for peace in the Middle East".

"The United States hopes that this brave step will be the first in a series of agreements that ends 72 years of hostilities in the region," Pompeo said, adding that the formal agreement would be signed at the White House at a future date.

Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the tallest structure in the world, and a symbol of the oil-rich UAE

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP the deal was "a milestone in Arab acceptance of Israel in the region".

It was also be "a brake on annexation, which would jeopardise Israel's peace with Jordan and Israel's own future as a Jewish, democratic state", he said. 

'Annexation trap'

Israeli and UAE delegations will meet in the coming weeks to discuss investment, tourism, direct flights, security and the establishment of embassies, they said.

The trio were confident of further similar deals with other countries, their statement added.

Israeli and UAE delegations will meet in the coming weeks to discuss investment,

tourism, direct flights, security and the establishment of reciprocal embassies

The UAE's minister of state for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash told a media briefing that "most countries will see this as a bold step to secure a two-state solution, allowing time for negotiations".

Hours after the deal was announced, the Emirati flag was projected onto Tel Aviv's town hall.

Aaron David Miller, a veteran US negotiator on the Middle East peace process and analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, called the deal a "win for all".

"(The) UAE says it's prevented annexation; US prevents annexation too and gets big breakthrough and Netanyahu gets enormous win and off hook from the annexation trap," he tweeted.

Pope Francis and other religious leaders at the Vatican. Photograph: AP

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"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

" ..... Abraham, Father of the Jews

I want to honor Abraham [Abram], born in Ur, which is now part of modern Iraq, and I want to honor his sons, not all born of Sara. The one I wish to speak of is Ishmael. Abraham is Jewish... the great Jewish prophet. Ishmael is his son. There's no way that you could say Ishmael was not Jewish, and he is even to this day. Ishmael was born in Hebron. So in addition, he is very Israeli. Ishmael is a Jew.

Now some would argue, due to how the Jewish lineage is computed by men [mother's side]. But Spirit looks at the DNA and the Akashic lineage, so spiritually, Ishmael is a Jew. He came in to be part of the lineage of the Jews.

He fell from favor even with the Jewish people early on for political reasons. Then Ishmael went on to become that which is the ancestor of all Arabs... the father of Arabia. Therefore, you could say that the Arabs are with Jewish blood, that of Abraham flowing through them. But early on, the Jews cast Ishmael out. So although you have the one God and monotheism, and you have the principle of the love of God and the unity of God, there was a split. The truth was mixed with untruths and, even to this day, there would be a billion Human Beings who would say it was Ishmael and not Isaac who was almost sacrificed at the Temple Mount. They would also say that he is not a Jew.

So what is the truth here? Human Beings were not built to unify. In an older energy on the planet from those days, and even the days that you were born in, the energy laid upon you is for you to separate, not unify. And that is why we call it the old energy. Oh, they were wise men and women who knew better, but it is the old energy that separates and divides, and it is the old energy that has created the divisions of hatred within millions of those who are actually "all Jews."

Muhammad's Beautiful Message of Unity

Let me tell you about Muhammad, the prophet. Muhammad is of the lineage of Ishmael, who is of the lineage of Abraham. Therefore, Muhammad had Jewish blood, so that was his lineage but not necessarily his culture. But his Akashic lineage was from Abraham. [Abraham is the founder of Islam, according to the Quran.]

Muhammad had a beautiful meeting, more than one, with an angelic presence. The angels talked to humanity back then in basic 3D ways. But how many of you have put together that most of the angels in that time who spoke to Human Beings talked to those of Jewish lineage? Like Muhammad, like Moses, like Jesus, like Abraham. For this was part of a set-up of history, part of what makes the Jewish lineage important to the core Akash of humanity, and we have spoken before, "As go the Jews, go Earth." Indeed, there is something there to look at which is important, and it is going to change soon. For in our eyes, the "Jews" are all those in the Middle East.

Muhammad's information from the angel was this: "Unify the Arabs and give them the God of Israel." And he did! The information he had was beautiful and was written down later for his followers. It was all about the incredible love of God and the unity of man. Muhammad the prophet was a unifier, not a separatist.

Long before Muhammad, there came Jesus - Jesus the Jew. He became responsible for what you would call Christianity today. All of his disciples were Jewish. The Rock, Peter the fisherman, who started the Christian church, was Jewish. And we tell you these things to remind you that there's a unity here. Perhaps there is a reason, dear ones, why the 12 layers of DNA have Hebrew names? Indeed, it's in honor of the masters and the lineage, including that of Muhammad, of Ishmael, of Isaac, of Abraham and of Jesus. All of them, part of the original spiritual language [Hebrew].

"Oh," you might say, "there was Sumerian and before that there was Lemurian. There was Sanskrit and Tamil, and many other older languages." Correct, but we're speaking of a language of today - one that you can relate to, that has power, and that is spoken today by the pure lineage of the masters who walked the planet.

So what did humanity do with all this? What did they do with all this sacred information from these Jewish masters? They went to war, because Humans separate things. They don't put them together. So here we are with one beautiful God, creator of all there is, and millions who believe that very thing, yet they are going to war with each other over ideology about what God said, which prophet was best, and which group is in God's favor. That's ancient history, thousands of years old. But it shows exactly what the old energy is all about. ..."

In Sweden, female priests now outnumber male ones

France24 – AFP, 22 July 2020

Jonathan NACKSTRAND AFP

Stockholm (AFP) - For the first time in history, Swedish female priests outnumber their male counterparts, sixty years after they were first allowed to don the clerical collar, the Church of Sweden said Wednesday.

Of the 3,060 priests currently serving in Sweden, 1,533 are female, or 50.1 percent, according to Cristina Grenholm, secretary for the Church of Sweden.

"From a historical perspective, this parity happened faster than we earlier imagined. A report from 1990 estimated that women would be half of the total clergy in 2090. And it took thirty years," Grenholm told AFP.

Unlike the Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church of Sweden has allowed female priests since 1958 and first ordained three women in 1960.

In 1982 the Swedish parliament also scrapped a "conscience clause" that allowed members of the clergy to refuse to cooperate with a female colleague.

Women have been over-represented on theological courses, especially since the separation of church and state in 2000, and accounted for 70 percent of those training for ordination in a study in 2013.

"Many parishes during the Sunday service try to have both a man and a woman at the altar," Grenholm said.

"Since we believe that God created human beings, both men and women, in God's image, it is essential that we do not only speak about it, but that it is also shown," she added.

However, there is a wage gap between male and female pastors -- averaging 2,200 Swedish kronor ($248 or 215 euros) per month according to the church's newspaper Kyrkans Tidning.

Grenholm said this was due to more men being in higher positions of authority.

In Sweden, ministers in the Church of Sweden have the title of priest, while those serving in parishes outside the former State Church are referred to as pastors.

Representatives of the Amazon rainforest's ethnic groups attended the synod 

with Pope Francis (AFP Photo/Tiziana FABI)

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God/Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.

There is a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.

It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness.  …”

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“ … Spirituality (Religions)

Number one: Spirituality. The systems of spiritual design on your planet are starting to change. This is not telling you that certain ones are going to go away. They're simply going to change. Some of the largest spiritual systems, which you would call organized religion on the planet, are shifting. They're going to shift away from that which is authority on the outside to authority on the inside. It will eventually be a different way of worship, slowly changing the rules while keeping the basic doctrine the same.

The doctrine of the Christ has always been to find the God inside. The teachings were clear. The examples of the miracles were given as an example of what humans could do, not to set a man up for worship as a God. So when that has been absorbed, the teaching of the Christ can remain the teaching of the Christ. It simply changes the interpretation. 

The teachings of the great prophets of the Middle East (all related to each other) are about unity and love. So once the holy words are redefined with new wisdom, the Human changes, not the words of the prophets. In fact, the prophets become even more divinely inspired and their wisdom becomes even more profound.

You're going to lose a pope soon. I have no clock. Soon to us can mean anything to you. The one who replaces him may surprise you, for his particular organization will be in survival mode at that point in time. That is to say that fewer and fewer are interested in starting the priesthood. Fewer and fewer young people are interested in the organization, and the new pope must make changes to keep his church alive. That means that his organization will remain, but with a more modern look at what truly is before all of you in a new energy. It is not the fall of the church. It is instead the recalibration of the divinity inside that would match the worship that goes on. It's a win-win situation. The new pope will have a difficult time, since the old guard will still be there. There could even be an assassination attempt, such is the way the old energy dies hard. That is number one. Watch for it. It's a change in the way spiritual systems work. It's a realignment of spiritual systems that resound to a stronger truth that is Human driven, rather than prophet driven.…”

"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) - (Text version)

“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”

Pentagon nixes Confederate flag at US military facilities

Yahoo - AFP, July 17, 2020

White supremacists often display the Confederate flag during demonstrations
 as they did at a neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017 -- it is
now effectively banned at US military installations (AFP Photo/ANDREW
CABALLERO-REYNOLDS)

Washington (AFP) - Pentagon chief Mark Esper on Friday effectively banned the display of the Confederate flag at all US military facilities, where the banner -- seen by many as racist -- is frequently displayed in barracks and common areas.

In a message to all US military officials, the Defense Department posted a list of flags authorized to be flown at bases and aboard war ships, in offices and conference halls, and in any spaces operated by the military.

Left off that list was the Confederate battle flag, a red banner with two diagonal blue stripes and 13 white stars symbolizing the southern slave-holding states that seceded from the union or supported the effort during the 1861-1865 American Civil War.

"The flags we fly must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols," Esper wrote in a two-page memorandum.

The carefully worded statement did not specifically mention the Confederate flag, or the racial tensions that have simmered since the killing of unarmed African American George Floyd in police custody in late May.

It appeared crafted in a way to avoid open conflict with US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly waded into the debate over the Confederate flag to argue that people who fly it are exercising their freedom of speech.

Since the death of Floyd, the US military -- one of the most racially diverse American institutions -- has conducted a sweeping internal debate on racism.

For years, some soldiers have been fond of displaying Confederate flags in their barracks, claiming the freedom of expression enshrined in the US Constitution.

White southerners often fly the flag as a symbol of their southern heritage and pride, but for most African Americans, it is a potent symbol of slavery, racism and white supremacy.

Members of the Ku Klux Klan, a notorious white supremacist hate group, often flew the flag.

By effectively banning the flag, Esper is differentiating himself from Trump, who addressed the Confederate issue in a CBS interview this week.

"I know people that like the Confederate flag and they're not thinking about slavery," Trump told the network. "With me, it's freedom of speech, very simple."

Esper and General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have also spoken out in favor of renaming US military bases currently named for Confederate generals, an idea the president opposes.

New Vatican manual advises bishops to report sex abuse claims to police

Yahoo – AFP, by Ella IDE, 16 July 2020

The Roman Catholic Church has admitted to abuses by predator priests from
Australia to Chile, France, Germany, Ireland and the United States

The Vatican released guidelines Thursday for bishops and other senior officials on dealing with clerical child sex abuse claims, clarifying rules on tackling a decades-old scandal plaguing the church.

The manual, which includes a form to be filled out detailing the alleged crime against minors, does not include any new laws but was drawn up after Pope Francis called for the procedures to be laid out step-by-step, it said.

It strengthened advice to officials on reporting claims to civil authorities, saying they "should" do so, even if not obliged to by law in the country in question, especially if necessary to protect the person involved or other minors.

Previous official guidelines have told clerics to follow local laws on whether claims should be reported to police.

Critics of the church have long insisted bishops and others should be ordered, not merely urged, to report crimes.

"While this language is incrementally stronger than the Vatican's usual rhetoric, the difference doesn't matter. This is merely a manual -- it carries no weight under church law," said Anne Doyle, co-director of the abuse tracking site Bishop Accountability.

"If Pope Francis is serious about waging an 'all-out battle' against child sexual abuse, he should order every church official to report allegations to civil authorities," she added.

'Practical handbook'

The Roman Catholic Church has admitted to abuses by predator priests from Australia to Chile, France, Germany, Ireland and the United States.

The Argentinian pope, who has made the fight against sexual abuse and its cover up one of the priorities of his pontificate, held a special summit on the thorny topic in February 2019.

He called for "a practical handbook indicating the steps to be taken by authorities at key moments when a case emerges".

The Vatican said this was "Version 1.0", which could be updated if and when necessary.

"The real novelty... is that for the first time the procedure is described in an organised way -- from the first report of a possible crime to the definitive conclusion," Archbishop Giacomo Morandi said in an interview with Vatican News.

'Cases still emerging'

Morandi, the deputy of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), which is responsible for processing clergy sex abuse complaints, said clerical assault of minors was "present on all continents".

"We are still witnessing reports emerge of old cases, sometimes many years later. Certainly, some crimes are also recent," he said.

The pope's efforts to combat silence surrounding paedophilia in the Church include the passing of a landmark measure last year to oblige those who know about sex abuse to report it to their superiors.

But a top expert in the Church's battle against sex abuse warned in June that the coronavirus pandemic had increased the risks to minors as the world's priorities shift.

Bishops all over the world had been "getting a bit lost" as they tried to keep abreast of updates to the law in disparate texts, Nicholas Seneze, the Vatican correspondent for French Catholic daily La Croix, told AFP.

The manual advises against simply "transferring the accused cleric" from one parish to another -- a solution repeatedly adopted in the past, enabling paedophile priests to prey on more than one congregation.

All reports of abuse, even anonymous ones, "should be appropriately assessed and... given all due attention".

It repeats the controversial rule that any crime discovered during confession is subject to "the strictest bond of the sacramental seal", and therefore secret, but says the confessor should try and convince the penitent to tell someone else.

And it warns against any attempt to try and silence those reporting a crime, but also urges officials to be careful not to sully the good name of those involved or create "a scandal" which could further damage the centuries-old institution.

The Roman Catholic Church has admitted to abuses by predator priests from Australia to Chile, France, Germany, Ireland and the United States.

Supreme Court orders Trump financial records released to NY prosecutors

Yahoo – AFP, July 9, 2020

The US Supreme Court issued two rulings in cases involving President Donald
Trump's financial records (AFP Photo/Mandel NGAN)

Washington (AFP) - The US Supreme Court ruled Thursday that President Donald Trump must hand over his tax returns to prosecutors in New York but temporarily blocked Congress from accessing his financial records.

The rulings were a setback for Trump's claim to absolute immunity from criminal investigation but may allow him at the same time to keep his finances private until after the November presidential election.

The court ruled 7-2 against Trump in a case brought by Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance, a Democrat who is seeking eight years of the president's financial records in connection with an alleged "hush money" payment made to porn actress Stormy Daniels.

Trump's attorneys had claimed the president was immune from criminal investigation -- a claim rejected by the court.

"Two hundred years ago, a great jurist of our Court established that no citizen, not even the President, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding," the court said. "We reaffirm that principle today."

The other case before the nation's highest court concerned a request by Democratic-led congressional committees for Trump's tax returns and financial records.

In a 7-2 ruling, the court sent the congressional case back to a lower court for further consideration, earning the president a reprieve of sorts.

Vance called the ruling "a tremendous victory for our nation's system of justice and its founding principle that no one -– not even a president -– is above the law.

"Our investigation, which was delayed for almost a year by this lawsuit, will resume, guided as always by the grand jury's solemn obligation to follow the law and the facts, wherever they may lead," Vance said.

Even if Trump's financial records are turned over to prosecutors by his accounting firm Mazars they may remain hidden from public view because of grand jury secrecy.

Trump fired off a string of furious tweets following the rulings.

"This is about PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT," he tweeted.

"This is all a political prosecution," Trump said. "Now I have to keep fighting in a politically corrupt New York. Not fair to this Presidency or Administration!"

Nancy Pelosi, Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, said she would continue to press for Trump's financial records to be handed over to Congress.

"The Congress will continue to conduct oversight For The People, upholding the separation of powers that is the genius of our Constitution," Pelosi said. "We will continue to press our case in the lower courts."

Commonwealth should 'acknowledge' past wrongs, says Prince Harry

Yahoo – AFP, July 6, 2020

Harry, Duke of Sussex, seen here in conversation with Formula 1 champion Lewis
 Hamilton, had already spoken out last week against institutional racism (AFP
 Photo/PETER NICHOLLS)

London (AFP) - Prince Harry has urged the Commonwealth, which his grandmother heads, to acknowledge its uncomfortable colonial past, in video extracts published on Monday.

The 35-year-old royal and his wife, Meghan, joined a video conference call with leaders organised by the Queen's Commonwealth Trust (QCT) from their base in the United States.

The sessions were set up in response to the growing Black Lives Matter movement, sparked by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, during a US police arrest.

Harry last week outlined his personal commitment to tackling institutional racism, saying it had "no place" in society but was still too widespread.

On the July 1 call, posted on the QCT website, he said: "When you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past.

"So many people have done such an incredible job of acknowledging the past and trying to right those wrongs but I think we all acknowledge there is so much more still to do.

"It's not going to be easy and in some cases it's not going to be comfortable, but it needs to be done, because, guess what, everybody benefits."

Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the Commonwealth, a non-political organisation of 54 countries, most of which have links to the British Empire.

It comprises 2.4 billion people -- a quarter of the world's population -- of which 60 percent are aged under 30.

The QCT was set up to give younger people from member nations a platform to share ideas and insights.

The chief executive of the QCT, Nicola Brentnall, has said the body is studying how the Commonwealth's colonial past and its legacy should shape its future.

Harry and Meghan stepped down from frontline royal duties this year and have set up a non-profit organisation focusing on the promoting of mental health, education and well-being.

Meghan, a mixed-race US former actress, has previously talked about her own personal experience of racism and unconscious bias.

Former army officer Harry has also complained about the "racial undertones" of media coverage of his wife.

The couple are president and vice-president respectively of the QCT.