SAFCAM Communique #62 - English

SAFCAM Communique #62            31/07/2021     

Dear Subscribers

Last day of July already and only 5 months to go before the close of 2021. Happy feast of Ignatius of Loyola celebrated especially by Pope Francis and his Jesuit confreres around the world today, besides the universal church too. It is 500 years since Ignatius was injured in battle which led to his conversion. Evidence that misfortunes in life can be used by providence for greater a good.

This morning 2 young Jesuits with Salesian connections in AFM are being ordained in Johannesburg.

This morning also a dozen young salesians from Utume are making their perpetual profession here in Nairobi. Alleluia! AMGD!  If you visit the SAFCAM website, you will find among the latest postings edifying stories of two Olympic Gold medallists this week who do not only credit themselves for their victories but use their achievements to glorify God and witness to their faith. Their spiritual impact on this heathen era probably evangelizes more than many sermons!

The latest Cagliero11 offers some useful stats on religions in the world:

Christianity        - 2.4 billion (31.4%): Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, Oceania, the Philippines

Islam                   - 1.9 billion (25.1%): North & West Africa, Middle East, Central Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia

Hinduism           - 1.2 billion (15.3%): India, Nepal, Mauritius, Fiji, Guyana

Buddhism          - 505 million (6.7%): Far East (South East Asia), Mongolia, Sri Lanka

Traditional African religions - 405 million (5.3%): Sub-Saharan Africa, Caribbean

Taoism, Confucianism, Chinese cults - 395 million (5.2%): China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau

Sikhism               - 23 million (0.3%): India (Punjab), United Kingdom, Canada

Judaism              - 14 million (0.2%): Israel, USA, Canada, Europe, Oceania

Interesting that Judaism, the source of Christianity and Islam, has remained such a minority.

How about a visit to the Blessed Stephen Sándor website: www.sandoristvan.hu

As advertised by the ANS-newsletter this week, there is an inspiring website dedicated to the life of Br Stephen. The website itself was first created immediately after Stephen Sándor's beatification in 2014.

All the resources concerning Blessed Sándor István are now available in English, Italian and Spanish.

A brief summary of Stephen Sándor’s life: He was born in Szolnok, Hungary, on 26 October 1914. Dedicated from a young age to the spiritual life and an animator of his peers, he learned about Don Bosco by reading the Salesian Bulletin and immediately felt attracted by the Salesian charism. He made his first profession on 8 September 1940, and excelled both in teaching vocational courses and in assisting in the oratory. In 1942 he was conscripted, and was awarded a medal for military valour. At the end of World War II, he committed himself to the material and moral reconstruction of society, dedicating himself in particular to poor young people, to whom he taught a trade.

On 24 July 1946 he made his perpetual profession, and in 1948 he obtained the qualification of master-printer. When the persecution of Catholic schools began, he went into hiding, but in July 1952 he was arrested and was never seen by his confreres again. He was hanged on the evening of 8 June 1953 in Budapest, though his execution was made public only in 1990. The place of his burial remains unknown, but the memory of Stephen Sándor today is more alive than ever.

Some good cyberspace news

The German government has announced that it is set to shut down Pornhub in the country along with three other major porn tube sites, YouPorn, MyDirtyHobby (both owned by MindGeek), and XHamster for their failure to implement mandated child protection procedures. This move will block the non-compliant porn sites from 83 million people for their ongoing abuse of underage victims both in front of and behind the screen. At the moment Canada and Australia are also considering similar regulations that would require porn sites to verify age in order to protect children. May other countries follow suit.

Some agencies who do much in this field of counteracting the spread of internet porn and other objectionable sexual content online, and addictions to harmful material, are the following:

www.FTND.org – ‘Fight the new drug’ - Since our founding in 2009, Fight the New Drug’s mission has been to decrease the demand for sexual exploitation through education and awareness, rather than legislative restriction. Throughout our #StopTheDemand campaign, we’re educating individuals on the exploitative issues pornography fuels so we can all make better, more conscious decisions on what we choose to consume, and what we choose to not contribute to the demand for. Pornography... besides corrupting the brain and the soul, it

• fuels sex trafficking
• normalizes sexual objectification
• perpetuates sexualized racism
• profits off of nonconsensual content
• inspires sexual violence and abuse
• fuels child sexual abuse material

Help us stop the demand for pornography and exploitation by educating yourself and others on the harmful and abusive issues pornography fuels. Learn more and get involved by clicking below. Together, we can #StopTheDemand.

www.enough.org and www.InternetSafety101.org   - Enough is Enough – a non-partisan, non-profit organization who has led the fight to make the Internet safer for children and families since 1994.

EIE's efforts are focused on combating Internet p*rnography, child p*rnography, sexual predation,

sex trafficking and cyberbullying by incorporating a four-pronged prevention strategy with shared responsibilities between the public, the legal and faith community.

www.lailamickelwait.com – The Justice Defense Fund and Trafficking-Hub is a non-partisan, non-religious group striving to combat sexual crime including trafficking, rape,… prevent child-abuse, and provide recourse to victims.

www.ncose.com and EndSexualExploitation.org  - National Center on Sexual Exploitation

www.catwinternational.org -  Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW)

www.exodus90.com – a catholic ministry for those struggling with porn addiction - Exodus started as a seminary formation program, and in only a few short years, transformed into a movement reaching more than 30,000 in 65 countries, and enables men around the world to find freedom in Jesus Christ.

All of these are US-based organizations and there are several other useful catholic resources assisting in this field. It would be good to create similar groups in Africa where porn is a hushed but very contagious pandemic and drug harming not only adults and marriages, but especially young people.

All the best for the month of August and do visit www.safcam.org every now and then at least!

Camiel and François