The post SOLIDWORKS Electrical Formula SAE Tutorial: Inserting and Creating a Line Diagram Symbol appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Education Blog.

The post SOLIDWORKS Electrical Formula SAE Tutorial: Assigning, Creating and Modifying Manufacturer Part appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Education Blog.

The post SOLIDWORKS Electrical Formula SAE Tutorial: Detailed Cabling appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Education Blog.

The post SOLIDWORKS Electrical Formula SAE Tutorial: Creating Electrical Connection Points inside a SOLIDWORKS part appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Education Blog.

The post SOLIDWORKS Electrical Formula SAE Tutorial: How to open a SOLIDWORKS Electrical project and associate electrical components appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Education Blog.

The post SOLIDWORKS Electrical Formula SAE Tutorial: Creating a routing path and route cables along the path appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Education Blog.

The post SOLIDWORKS Electrical Formula SAE Tutorial: How to flatten the route and creating reports appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Education Blog.

The post Aero Design Series – Stock Wheel – Part 3: Saving and Renaming appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Education Blog.

One of the main mechanisms of azole resistance of Aspergillus fumigatus is thought to be a reduction in the drug’s affinity for the target molecule, Cyp51A, due to its amino acid mutation(s). It is known that the azole resistance pattern is closely related to the mutation site(s) of the molecule. In this study, we tried to develop a simple and rapid detection method for cyp51A mutations using the endonuclease Surveyor nuclease. The Surveyor nuclease assay was verified using several azole-resistant strains of A. fumigatus that possess point mutations in Cyp51A. For validation of the Surveyor nuclease assay, blind tests were conducted using 48 strains of A. fumigatus (17 azole-resistant and 31 azole-susceptible strains). The Surveyor nuclease assay could rapidly detect cyp51A mutations with one primer set. Also, all the tested strains harboring different cyp51A single point mutations could be clearly distinguished from the wild type. The Surveyor nuclease assay is a simple method that can detect cyp51A mutations rapidly.

Health care professionals are being punished for protecting themselves, and us.

With partisan goggles, we plunge back into the muck.

Billions for oil, nothing for nurses and teachers.

AppleInsider has rounded up the best 16-inch MacBook Pro deals going on right now, with coupon savings knocking up to $450 off every single model. Whether you're in the market for a standard config or looking for a loaded Core i9 model, it pays to check out the cash discounts.

It's not exactly surprising that with all of the uncertainty in the world, Apple decided that it couldn't provide useful revenue guidance for its fiscal Q3 ending in June. It is unexpected, however, that Apple felt confident in announcing a silver lining to the pandemic -- it expects to sell more Macs and iPads in the summer of 2020 compared to 2019.

After several years of back-and-forth litigation, Apple has withdrawn what was likely its final appeal in a Wi-Fi hotspot patent infringement case due to a Supreme Court decision.

Following in the footsteps of Apple Card, and in the shadow of a rumored debit card solution from Google, Samsung on Thursday announced plans to field a physical debit card product in partnership with finance company SoFi.

Last March, analysts and tech bloggers dumped out arrogant contempt over Apple's latest product introduction. This year, those new offerings helped save Apple's Q2 earnings and are projected to bolster its June quarter performance despite the pandemic.

A church plant in Montenegro experiences unexpected diversity and growth resulting from the conflict in Ukraine.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 7, 2020 / 10:48 am (CNA).- A Catholic nurse said the coronavirus pandemic has presented challenges she has never encountered before—and that a prayer life is critical to get her through her shift.

“If I don’t have my faith in me, I cannot give what I don’t have,” said Maria Arvonio, a registered nurse for almost 40 years and a board member of the National Association of Catholic Nurses. 

As the current night shift supervisor at Virtua Willingboro Medical Center in southern New Jersey—a COVID-19 “hot spot,” she says—Arvonio told CNA she and her colleagues were facing a new kind of disease.

Over the decades she has had experience treating previous diseases including the AIDS epidemic, before which nurses didn’t wear gloves. “I’m still standing—that is God,” she said.

Yet the new coronavirus pandemic is something unprecedented, she admitted. “It’s different in that it appears that no matter what we’re doing, it seems to just multiply,” she said.

As she treats COVID-19 patients, Arvonio told CNA that she leans on her prayer life to lead the team of nurses at the hospital.

“I cannot help those other nurses stand strong, if they look at me and I look afraid. Why would they want us to continue to work? I cannot show fear,” she said.

“I start my job with prayer. Before I even go into the workplace, I’ve already been either doing the rosary with someone, praying ‘Jesus, come and seal me in your most Precious Blood, Blessed Mother help me,’” Arvonio said.

Arvonio was one of several nurses to appear at the White House on Wednesday for National Nurses Day, and told President Trump of her experience treating patients in a COVID-19 “hot zone.” New Jersey has been one of the hardest-hit states by the virus, with nearly 132,000 confirmed cases and more than 8,500 deaths.

Treating the person, and not just the sickness, is part of the mission of nurses, she said at the event. “It’s not just our science, it’s our compassion.”

In an interview with CNA after her White House appearance, Arvonio said she pressed an official close to the President on the need for the administration to push for more access to COVID patients by hospital chaplains.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has reportedly been working on guidelines for restarting religious services as states begin to loosen stay-at-home restrictions. CNA reported that on April 28 and 29, officials from the White House domestic policy council and the CDC had discussed the matter with four Catholic bishops who are resuming public Masses.

New Jersey, Arvonio said, has allowed golf courses and liquor stores to be open, but Catholics do not have public Mass. “That’s a problem,” she said.

The spiritual needs of the COVID-19 patients are just as real as their physical needs, she said. As a board member of the National Association of Catholic Nurses, U.S.A., Arvonio says that organization’s mission is critical now more than ever, to emphasize caring for the spiritual needs of patients. 

In the case of one patient who was heading to hospice, a priest could only talk to her remotely, on Zoom.

“She was in tears, an elderly woman worried to leave on hospice because her priest wasn’t there to give her the last rites. This is wrong! This is our right as a Catholic!” Arvonio said.

For some hospitals, chaplains cannot administer the sacramental anointing because of a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) available for them. Yet, Arvonio said, she has seen staff wearing PPE in situations where it’s not necessary.

“Look at how we’re using our equipment and give it to the essential personnel, which is the priest,” she said. “We need him in the hospital more than ever.”

“We need to start thinking about getting the spiritual care back to these patients. They need their priests, they need their pastor.”

She has started making care packages for patients to provide something tangible in the absence of the sacraments; for one patient she assembled a care bag with holy water, blessed oil, and plastic rosaries. “I said ‘he’s not alone. God always has somebody for every person,” she said.

CNA Staff, May 8, 2020 / 12:30 pm (CNA).- A federal judge in Arkansas on Thursday upheld the state’s requirement that women obtain a negative coronavirus test before having an abortion.

Calling the decision “agonizingly difficult,” Judge Brian Miller for the Eastern District Court of Arkansas said the state’s testing mandate—which applies to all elective surgeries and not just abortions—is “reasonable” during the public health emergency and was not done “with an eye toward limiting abortions.

The judge noted that “it is undisputed that surgical abortions have still taken place.”

The abortion clinic Little Rock Family Planning Services had requested a temporary injunction on the state health department’s requirement that elective surgery patients obtain a negative new coronavirus (COVID-19) test result within 48 hours before the procedure.

Previously, the health department ordered a halt to non-essential surgeries on April 3 to preserve resources for treating COVID-19.

The Little Rock abortion clinic performed abortions while claiming they were offering “essential” procedures, and after the health department ordered them to stop on April 10, the clinic challenged the state in court. The diocese’s Respect Life Office noted that women were traveling to the clinic for abortions from nearby states such as Texas and Louisiana.

The clinic won its case for a temporary restraining order at the district court level, but the Eighth Circuit appeals court subsequently overruled that decision and sided with the state.

The April 3 directive was updated April 24 to allow for some elective surgeries provided certain conditions were met. Elective abortions were included in the “non-essential” surgeries that were allowed to continue on April 24.

These conditions included no overnight stays, no contact with COVID-19 patients in the previous 14 days, and a negative COVID-19 test for patients within 48 hours of the surgery.

According to the clinic, which asked for a temporary injunction, three women were seeking to obtain “dilation and evacuation” abortions but were prevented from meeting the state’s testing requirmenet. One woman said she was unable to get a COVID-19 test; another said the lab could not guarantee she would receive results in 48 hours. The third woman was unable to get an abortion in Texas, and drove to the Little Rock clinic; she was told the results of her test would not be available for several days.

In response, the state’s health department said that four surgical abortions had still been performed at the clinic between April 27 and May 1, with COVID-19 test results having been obtained within 48 hours of the abortions, and thus the directive was not an “undue burden” on women seeking abortion.

In his decision on Thursday, Judge Miller said that the pandemic is a serious threat, noting that at the time of the opinion more than 70,000 people had died in the U.S. from the virus including more than 3,500 people in Arkansas.

He said the case “presents the tug-of-war between individual liberty and the state’s police power to protect the public during the existing, grave health crisis,” and noted that the three women as well as others “are very troubled. There is a strong urge to rule for them because they are extremely sympathetic figures, but that would be unjust.”

CNA Staff, May 8, 2020 / 04:15 pm (CNA).- As parishes and dioceses across the country deal with a drop in collections and the prospects of layoffs amid the pandemic, many parishes have managed to avail themselves of government loans designed to cover eight weeks of payroll expenses.

CBS News reported Friday that an estimated 12,000-13,000 of the 17,000 Catholic parishes in the U.S. had applied for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) payroll loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA), and 9,000 so far had received them.

Guidance from the SBA on eligibility for the loans states that “no otherwise eligible organization will be disqualified from receiving a loan because of the religious nature, religious identity, or religious speech of the organization.”

Religious organizations are eligible for the loans as long as they meet the requirements of Section 501(c)(3) nonprofit and employ 500 or fewer people, the SBA said.

“The PPP isn't about the federal government assisting houses of worship or churches,” Pat Markey, the executive director of the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference, told CBS News.

“PPP is about keeping people on payrolls, and a large segment of our society [in] the not for profit world...are churches and houses of worship. And they have people on payrolls too. So, if what this is about is keeping people on payrolls, then we all should have availability to do that.”

The Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference did not reply by press time to CNA’s request for additional comment.

Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act March 27 to help relieve the economy during the coronavirus pandemic.

The CARES Act initially authorized some $350 billion in loans to small businesses, intended to allow them to continue to pay their employees. The loans were given on a first come, first serve basis.

The second round of funding, with some $310 billion in additional funds available, began April 27.

The loans were capped at $10 million, were open to businesses with fewer than 500 employees per location, and were intended to cover two months of payroll costs.

The federal government promised to forgive the loans if a business used at least 75% of the funds to maintain its payroll at “pre-pandemic levels” for eight weeks after the loan is disbursed, the New York Times reports.

The remaining money could be used only to pay for certain expenses, such as a mortgage, rent, and utilities, according to the Times.

A survey of Protestant pastors by LifeWay Research found that about 40% had applied for PPP loans with more than half of them reporting being approved.

NPR reports that synagogues have also applied for government funding, though in a smaller proportion— of nearly 4,000 synagogues in the United States, about 250 were approved for PPP loans in the first round of lending, according to surveys by the Jewish Federations of North America and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.

The PPP has been subject to some criticism since its launch, including from those who say business owners with criminal records have been excluded from the program thus far.

In addition, several large companies, such as Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, have received multi-million dollar loans through the program. Some of these large companies, such as Shake Shack, have since returned their loans.

Two New York dioceses— Rochester and Buffalo— are suing the Small Business Administration for access to PPP funds, after they were denied loans because of their bankruptcy status.

An SBA rule stipulated that the funds would not go to bankruptcy debtors. Both the dioceses of Rochester and Buffalo have filed for bankruptcy in the past several months, after being named in hundreds of clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed under New York Child Victims Protection Act.

 

Learn how Kirby Downey, a user creator in our community, made a red lightsaber from scratch in honor of the latest Star Wars movie, "The Rise of Skywalker" - designing all the components in SOLIDWORKS before making it come to life!

Author information

The post Kirby Made His Own “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” Lightsaber appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Blog.

This is the first blog post regarding the SOLIDWORKS activation error message. I will briefly try to go through the four most common activation error messages when using a standalone license. I will in a later blog post cover the

Author information

The post Activation error message, standalone license appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Blog.

Working with SOLIDWORKS on an SNL server, you can sometimes experience an Activation error message. Often these messages are not the same as the activation error messages you recieve when performing standalone activation What is SNL? SNL is short for

Author information

The post Activation Error message – SNL appeared first on SOLIDWORKS Tech Blog.

CNA Staff, Apr 14, 2020 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- Cardinal George Pell has said culture wars and anti-Catholic sentiment could have played a part in the decision of Victoria police to pursue charges against him, even while they lacked supportive evidence of the allegations in his case.

Cardinal Pell described Victoria police as having “advertised for business” against him in an April 14 interview with Sky News Australia. Pell was asked about the decision by Victoria police to launch an open-ended investigation into him, despite having received no complaints of a crime.

The interview was Pell’s first televised appearance since his release last week after more than 400 days in prison. On the evidence of a single accuser, Pell was convicted in December 2018 of sexually assaulting two choirboys at the Melbourne Cathedral in 1996.

On April 7, the Australian High Court unanimously ruled that the evidence presented during the trial would not have allowed the jury to avoid reasonable doubt and ordered Pell’s acquittal and release.

On the day of his release, Pell told CNA that “The only basis for long term healing is truth and the only basis for justice is truth, because justice means truth for all.”

Pell spoke with Sky News’ Andrew Bolt about the decision by local police to bring 28 allegations of sexual abuse against him, only to see 27 of them dropped before reaching court. The remaining allegation resulted in Pell’s conviction by a Victoria jury and eventual acquittal by the High Court.

Asked directly if he thought police were “out to get” him, Pell said he did not know.

“I don’t know how you explain it, but it is certainly extraordinary,” Pell said.

Asked if he thought there was an anti-Catholic bias at work in the decision of police to charge him and by judges at the Victoria Court of Appeal to sustain his conviction, despite the evidence which eventually led to his exoneration, Pell said it was a possibility.

“I’ve seen too many people [make the leap] from possible to probable to fact. Certainly, people do not like Christians who teach Christianity, especially on life and family and issues like that.”

“The culture wars are real,” Pell said. “There is a systematic attempt to remove the Judeo-Christian legal foundations [on for example] marriage, life, gender, sex.”

“Unfortunately, there’s less rational discussion and more playing the man, more abuse and intimidation, and that’s not good for a democracy.”

During the interview, the cardinal was also asked if he believed that there was any connection between his work to reform the Vatican finances during his time as Prefect for the Economy and the emergence of charges against him in Victoria.

“Most of the senior people in Rome who are in any way sympathetic to financial reform believe that they are [connected]. But I have seen too much from people, as I said, going to possibility to probability to fact – I don’t have any evidence of that.”

“But one of my fears was that what we had done [to reform the Vatican finances] would remain hidden for ten years or so, and they’d would be revealed and the baddies would say ‘Well, Pell and Casey [Pell’s chief advisor] were in charge then, they turned a blind eye and did nothing to it.’”

“Thanks be to God all that’s gone, because there was a flurry of articles just before Christmas exposing all sorts of things like a disastrous purchase – actually a couple of them – in London, and it was very clearly demonstrated that we tenaciously opposed those things.”

“What we were pushing and saying has been massively vindicated,” Pell said. “Now you can see why they sacked the auditor [Libero Milone], why they got rid of the external auditors.”

Asked how high up in the curial hierarchy financial corruption goes, Pell said “Who knows? It’s a little bit like [anti-Catholicism] in Victoria, you’re not quite sure where the vein runs, how thick and broad it is, and how high it goes.”

But the cardinal also made clear that, in financial reforming efforts, Pope Francis had “absolutely” supported him and that “at the feet of the pope we’ve got Cardinal [Pietro] Parolin, he’s certainly not corrupt. Just how high up [the corruption goes] is an interesting hypothesis.”

Pell said that despite the difficulties he faced in prison, where he was held in solitary confinement for much of the time for his own safety, he bore no anger towards his accuser.

“I’ve got no anger, no hostility towards my complainant, I never have,” said Pell.

“I am called to forgive what happened to me that might have been a little unjust, and there is this heroic Christian call to forgiveness in the most appalling circumstances.”

But, Pell said, he had no hesitation in condemning the terrible scandal of sexual abuse in the Church.

“I totally condemn those sorts of activities [of abuse] and the damage that it has done to people – and I have seen the damage that it has done to people.”

“One of the things that grieves me is the suggestion that I’m anti-victim or not sufficiently sympathetic. I devoted a lot of time and energy to trying to get [victims] justice, and to get them help and compensation.”

Pell noted that as archbishop in the 1990s he set up the Melbourne Response to deal with sexual abuse in the Church and bringing about justice and compensation for victims.

“I worked hard,” Pell said, “when it wasn’t easy or fashionable, to get something in place – not run by clerics – that would give some protection and redress to these people, and I have worked consistently at that since at least the middle 90s.”

The cardinal said he had kept the same routine while in prison that, as a bishop, he had often urged on priests who found themselves “in a bit of trouble;” getting up early and at a set time, praying, exercising, and eating well.

“If you can’t pray when you are in trouble, your faith is very weak indeed.”

Asked if he had ever asked God, in the words of Christ on the cross, “why have you forsaken me?” Pell responded “No.”

“But I have said ‘My God, my God, what are you up to?’”

“One of the strangest teachings about Christianity – and the most useful – is that you can offer up your suffering,” Pell said. “Suffering is not just a brute fact. A Christian can offer that up to the Good God.”

Washington D.C., Apr 24, 2020 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) covered up the spread of the new coronavirus within the country, suppressing the real rate of infection and violating the rights of its citizens as it did so, a Chinese human rights activist told a forum at The Catholic University of America on Friday.

“It is time to recognize the threat the Chinese Communist Party poses to all humanity. The CCP represses and manipulates information to strengthen its hold on power, regardless of the toll on human lives,” human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng said April 24 during an online forum on the CCP and the new coronavirus.

The forum was hosted by Faith & Law in partnership with the Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America. Guanchen is Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Catholic University’s Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies.

Guangcheng is a blind human rights lawyer from China, who received sanctuary in the U.S. in 2012 after he was targeted by the CCP for his advocacy work. Guangcheng has sharply criticized the party for its human rights abuses, including from its one-child family planning policy.

He was sent to prison and subject to house arrest, during which he claims he and his family were repeatedly beaten and denied medical treatment.

On Friday, the lawyer warned audience members against suggestions that other countries should emulate China’s authoritarian response to the new coronavirus (COVID-19).

There are currently more than 2.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world.

The city of Wuhan is recognized as the epicenter of the global pandemic, and the government on Jan. 23 instituted a strict lockdown in the city of 11 million people. Guangchang cited reports of Chinese families being barricaded inside their own homes, and the group Human Rights Watch compiled stories of residents reportedly dying from lack of access to care during the lockdown.

“Whole families have been found dead in their apartments because they could not get out,” he said, noting that despite the CCP’s claim that it has the virus under control, lockdowns are currently in force in the city of Harbin.

“This is despite the authorities ordering everyone back to work and telling the outside world that they have the virus under control,” Guangcheng said. “The resurgence is directly related to the CCP hiding the truth, and cracking down on people who tried to share information on the virus.”

He also claimed that the CCP has been using the crisis caused by the pandemic to crack down on dissent, detaining human rights activists at separate “so-called quarantine sites.”

The wife of one human rights lawyer—who had just been released from prison told The Guardian that she feared the government was putting her husband under house arrest near where he was imprisoned, 400 kilometers away from her, under the guise of a quarantine.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, China’s number of COVID-19 cases rose considerably through January and February to 79,389 on Feb. 29 with 2,838 deaths, before its daily increase in case numbers slowed to a trickle in March including just one new reported case on March 22 in the country of more than 1.4 billion people.

Just 3,352 deaths were reported on April 16 before the reported number jumped to 4,642 the next day.

“There is nothing about the CCP’s numbers that are believable,” Guangcheng said. “What people are calculating is that roughly 700,000 may have died in China—in terms of people who have been infected, no one knows the numbers.”

For instance, he said, during the Wuhan lockdown citizen journalists claimed that the situation was far worse than the CCP was reporting; they recorded people collapsing in the streets and hearses and vans carrying body bags at all hours of the day.

“In summary, the CCP is the biggest and most serious virus of all, with over 193,000 people dead worldwide from the coronavirus,” the lawyer said. “There should be no question of the regime’s threat.”

Rome Newsroom, Apr 30, 2020 / 10:30 am (CNA).- The coronavirus pandemic is telling us that “our health counts more than the economy’s health and that true human fraternity is more valuable and noble than diplomatic success,” a Taiwanese archbishop has said.

Archbishop John Hung Shan-chuan of Taipei spoke to CNA about how the East Asian state has been at the forefront of efforts to halt COVID-19. 

Taiwan was one of the first countries to warn the international community about the risks of the pandemic, although its appeal was not heeded initially by the World Health Organization. 

The country, which has a population of 24 million, has had only 429 documented coronavirus cases and six deaths as of April 30, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

Archbishop Hung, who has overseen the archdiocese based in the Taiwanese capital since 2007, explained that the local Church has not faced a crisis because the government has been effective in countering the virus.

Taiwan also sent medical masks and supplies to the Vatican, to be delivered to the poor. Taiwan’s ambassador to the Holy See personally brought 280,000 medical masks to the Vatican and the Italian bishops’ conference, and donated food and supplies to the Papal Almoner.

Although Taipei has been considered a model in countering the pandemic, it has been overshadowed by its powerful neighbor, the People’s Republic of China, which claims Taiwan as part of its own territory.

This shadow also extends to Taiwan-Holy See relations. On September 18, 2018, the Holy See signed a confidential agreement with China on the appointment of bishops. The agreement is scheduled to expire in August, and negotiations for its renewal are underway.

Although the Holy See and Taiwan have had uninterrupted ties for almost 80 years, the Holy See is now keeping a low profile in relation to Taiwan, likely in order not to annoy mainland China.

The Holy See press office issued a statement April 9 thanking two Chinese foundations for providing medical supplies to the Vatican Pharmacy. Despite the considerable commitment of Taiwan, the Holy See has not released any official statement thanking Taiwan.  

The archbishop of Taipei, however, emphasized the broader picture and did not complain about the Vatican’s choice.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global crisis and represents a danger to all humanity,” he said. “No nation, absolutely no nation, can extirpate it by operating alone without the help of other countries.”

“What the world badly needs now is solidarity in action, not self-interest. And it is good that China can provide material aid to other countries on a very large scale.” 

“Thanks to the donations of supplies from China, the Vatican will be able to help many, many poor people in other countries who are forgotten by the politicians and barely reported by the media.”

Archbishop Hung continued: “The Catholic Church in poor countries is waiting for help. And the Vatican will be thankful for any concrete gesture of solidarity, regardless of the political system of the countries as the Church is entrusted with the mission to proclaim the Good News to all nations promoting at the same time a culture of fraternity and peaceful co-existence.”

Turning to Taiwan, he said: “Thanks to the competence of the government authorities and the remarkable support of the population, the people in Taiwan need not deal with emergencies, such as cluster infection. Understandably, no special contribution in terms of material aid to the local population is solicited from Caritas Taiwan.”

But the archbishop highlighted the plight of migrant workers, who ran a high risk of contracting and spreading the coronavirus.

Caritas Taiwan has been very active, the archbishop reported, distributing face masks to fishermen and and-based migrant workers who would not have them otherwise because of government rationing of masks.

“Furthermore,” he said, “in collaboration with other NGOs, Caritas Taiwan also advocates for the protection of migrant workers who are vulnerable to COVID-19 and asked the government to let them overstay in Taiwan, in case their visa is due.”

Archbishop Hung applauded the government for taking preventive measures to counter the pandemic. He stressed that the local bishops’ conference reacted very quickly and “complied with the recommendations and regulations of the ministry of the interior and decided, one by one, to suspend all the indoor Church gatherings, including Mass celebration on weekdays and Sundays, to avoid at all cost any possible infection that could cause death and the closure of the church premises.”

The Catholic Church in Taiwan has livestreamed Masses, while pastors have multiplied their efforts to be close to the faithful via social media and phone.

The archbishop noted that, although Taiwan has diplomatic ties with very few countries, “the Catholic Church is present in every nation,” and therefore “the Church in Taiwan never feels isolated.” 

“On the contrary,” he said, “thanks to the apostolic nunciature and its representative, we truly feel the communion with the Holy Father and with other local churches.”

Meanwhile, the Church in Taiwan is planning for the future. 

Archbishop Hung said: “Our bishops’ conference has been preparing a national evangelization congress since last year, which was initially scheduled for August this year.”

“The congress will gather clergy and laity that will come together to pray, to reflect and to discuss different issues regarding the future of the Catholic Church in Taiwan. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the congress is now postponed to next year.”

He also noted that Taiwan could be a bridge-builder to the Chinese world.

“As a Chinese-speaking bishops’ conference in the Catholic Church, the Church in Taiwan can contribute to the evangelization of the Chinese-speaking people,” he said.

Taiwan’s bishops’ conference collaborates with the dioceses of Hong Kong and Macau to translate the pope’s messages and writings, as well as Vatican documents, into Chinese. 

“Evangelization presupposes inculturation and goes hand in hand with the teaching of the Catholic Faith,” the archbishop said, adding that his bishops’ conference was helping to make “the Catholic Faith relevant to the Chinese-speaking people all over the world.”

Of course they can. So why won’t anti-tobacco advocates get behind them?

Jonathan Mahler’s piece on the Osama bin Laden raid is as much about the nature of journalism as it is about the facts surrounding the event.

God touches many lives on Sainte Marie Island during OM Madagascar's annual outreach, "Listen to Me, Islands".

A Malagasy witch doctor comes to faith in Christ during an OM outreach and is baptised just one week before his death.

German translation of the BIS Press Release on the presentation of the Annual Report (25 June 2017)

German translation of Press Release about BIS General Manager Agustín Carstens giving a speech on "Money in the digital age: what role for central banks?" (6 February 2018)

German translation of the BIS press release on the presentation of the Annual Economic Report 2019, 30 June 2019.

An OMer in Hungary shares how God intervened in the lives of women in the sex industry through the Bus4Life ministry

The African Union Development Agency says countries should think about how they choose the lesser of the two evils because strict lockdowns have severe consequences.

The South African government is seeking a $4.2 billion loan from the IMF to support its response to the Covid-19 crisis.

Almost one million people in Johannesburg, South Africa’s commercial hub, are in need of food aid due to movement restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus pandemic, according to its mayor.

A bold approach to the sanctions issue is necessary to refocus efforts on the actions needed to break the political stalemate in Zimbabwe before elections are held that otherwise threaten to be as violent and undemocratic as the 2008 round.

Bold steps can be taken by the EU to ease sanctions while not rewarding recalcitrant behaviour by Zanu-PF leadership

Zanu PF's limited commitment to the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and the resultant institutionalisation of the Government of National Unity (GNU) is why the party began to push for elections as from 2010, a strategy seen as steering the total collapse of the agreement.

An Israeli Jew comes to faith in Jesus through the witness of an OM worker.

God gets all the glory for the great things He has done through OM the past 50 years. Everyone is looking forward to the next 50 in great anticipation.

London, England, May 1, 2020 / 05:00 am (CNA).- The metropolitan archbishops of England and Wales acknowledged the pain of Catholics who cannot receive the sacraments because of the coronavirus lockdown in a message issued Friday. 

In the message, entitled “A People who Hope in Christ”, published May 1, the archbishops said that while livestreamed Masses nourished faith, they were no substitute for public liturgies.

“None of us would want to be in the situation in which we find ourselves,” they wrote. “While the livestreaming of the Mass and other devotions is playing an important part in maintaining the life of faith, there is no substitute for Catholics being able to physically attend and participate in the celebration of the Mass and the other sacraments.”

Writing on behalf of the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, the five archbishops continued: “Our faith is expressed powerfully and beautifully though ‘seeing, touching, and tasting.’ We know that every bishop and every priest recognizes the pain of Catholics who, at present, cannot pray in church or receive the sacraments. This weighs heavily on our hearts.” 

“We are deeply moved by the Eucharistic yearning expressed by so many members of the faithful. We thank you sincerely for your love for the Lord Jesus, present in the sacraments and supremely so in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.” 

“The bishops and priests of every diocese are remembering you and your loved ones at Mass each day in our churches as we pray ‘in hope of health and well-being.’ We thank our priests for this faithfulness to their calling.”

Nevertheless, the archbishops said, the Catholic community had to play its part in preserving life and seeking the common good amid the pandemic. Restrictions on public liturgies would therefore have to remain in place until they are lifted by the government.

The U.K. is among the countries worst affected by the pandemic. With a population of 67 million, the U.K has had more than 172,000 documented coronavirus cases and 26,700 deaths as of May 1, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

The archbishops emphasized that Church officials were in talks with public health agencies and the government about the reopening of churches, which were closed March 24. 

“As the government’s restrictions are relaxed step by step, we look forward to opening our churches and resuming our liturgical, spiritual, catechetical and pastoral life step by step,” they said. 

“This will also be of service to those beyond the Catholic Church who depend on our charitable activity and outreach through which much goodness is shared by so many volunteers from our communities...”

“Together with Catholics across England and Wales, we desire the opening of our churches and access to the sacraments. Until then, we are continuing to pray and prepare.”

The message was signed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster, Archbishop Malcolm McMahon of Liverpool, Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham, Archbishop George Stack of Cardiff and Archbishop John Wilson of Southwark.

The archbishops concluded: “May the peace of the risen Lord reign in our hearts and homes as we look forward to the day we can enter church again and gather around the altar to offer together the Sacrifice of Praise.”

CNA Staff, May 7, 2020 / 07:00 am (CNA).- The sainthood causes of St. John Paul II’s parents were formally opened in Poland Thursday.

A ceremony launching the causes of Karol and Emilia Wojtyła took place at the Basilica of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Wadowice, John Paul II’s birthplace, May 7. 

At the ceremony, the Archdiocese of Kraków officially formed the tribunals that will seek evidence that the Polish pope’s parents lived lives of heroic virtue, enjoy a reputation for holiness and are regarded as intercessors. 

After the tribunals’ first session, Kraków Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski presided at a Mass, which was broadcast via livestream amid Poland’s coronavirus lockdown. 

Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, who served as Pope John Paul II’s personal secretary, attended the ceremony.

He said: “I want to testify here, at this point, in the presence of the archbishop and the assembled priests, that as a long-standing secretary of Cardinal Karol Wojtyła and Pope John Paul II, I heard from him many times that he had holy parents.”

Fr. Paweł Rytel-Andrianik, spokesman for the Polish bishops’ conference, told CNA: “The processes of beatification of Karol and Emilia Wojtyła ... testify above all to the appreciation of the family and its great role in shaping the holy and great man -- the Polish Pope.” 

“The Wojtyłas were able to create such an atmosphere at home and form children in such a way that they became outstanding people.” 

“Therefore, there is great joy of starting the beatification processes and great gratitude to God for the life of Emilia and Karol Wojtyła and for the fact that we will be able to get to know them more and more. They will become a model and example for many families who want to be holy.”

Postulator Fr. Sławomir Oder, who also oversaw the cause of John Paul II, told Vatican News that the ceremony was an occasion for rejoicing in Poland. 

He said: “In fact, looking at this event, I am reminded of the words that John Paul II pronounced during the Mass of canonization of St. Kinga, known as Cunegonda, celebrated in Poland in Stary Sącz, when he said that saints are born of saints, are nurtured by the saints, draw life from the saints and their call to holiness.” 

“And in that context he spoke precisely of the family as the privileged place where holiness finds its roots, the first sources where it can mature throughout life.”

The Basilica of the Presentation, where the Wojtyłas' cause was opened, is where St. John Paul II was baptised on June 20, 1920. The church is located across the street from the Wojtyła family home, which is now a museum, in Wadowice.

Karol Wojtyła, an army officer, and Emilia, a school teacher, were married in Kraków in 1906. They had three children. The first, Edmund, was born that year. He became a doctor but caught scarlet fever from a patient and died in 1932. Their second child, Olga, died shortly after birth in 1916. Their youngest, Karol junior, was born in 1920, after Emilia refused a doctor’s advice to have an abortion because of her frail health. 

Emilia worked as a part-time seamstress after her third child’s birth. She died on April 13, 1929, shortly before Karol junior’s ninth birthday, of myocarditis and renal failure, according to her death certificate.

Karol senior, who was born on July 18, 1879, was a non-commissioned officer of the Austro-Hungarian army and a captain of the Polish army. He died on Feb. 18, 1941, in Kraków amid the Nazi occupation of Poland.

The future pope, who was 20 at the time and working at a stone quarry, returned from work to find his father’s body. He spent the night praying beside the body and afterwards began to pursue his vocation to the priesthood. 

Rome, Italy, May 8, 2020 / 10:00 am (CNA).- The U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See has called attention to the role of faith-based organizations in delivering U.S government relief funds to assist people who are suffering due to the coronavirus in Italy.

“The United States is funding NGOs and faith-based organizations that can effectively deliver critical assistance,” U.S. Ambassador Callista Gingrich told EWTN News May 6. 

“It’s important that American money be put to good use. Faith-based organizations are effective and trustworthy partners. They’re inspired by a sense of purpose and dedication to help those most in need,” the ambassador said.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has committed $50 million to aid Italy as it responds to the outbreak, which includes $30 million in funding split between faith-based organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and public international organizations, an official from the embassy told CNA. 

This is part of the $900 million the U.S. government is contributing globally in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 6, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that $100 million will be used to support virus detection and control, and $28 million to support refugees and migrants.

While the U.S. government is still in the process of vetting which NGOs and faith-based organizations will be receiving funds in Italy, Ambassador Gingrich said that the assistance package includes funding for “some of our Vatican-affiliated partners here, in Italy.”

A USAID document published in April describes the work of Catholic Relief Services and Caritas in Bangladesh, Nepal, Lebanon, Liberia, Kenya, Guatemala, and Mexico in supporting health care among vulnerable populations. It also showcases the contributions of Islamic Relief USA, the Jewish Distribution Committee, World Vision, and Malteser International, the aid agency of the Order of Malta.

In Italy, Malteser International set up a hospital and donated 260 ventilators, and distributed food and medicine to elderly in isolation.

A symposium at the Vatican on government partnerships with faith-based organizations co-hosted by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in October also highlighted the work of Caritas Internationalis, the Community of Sant’Egidio, and Aid to the Church in Need in providing humanitarian assistance.

The U.S. government has previously partnered with faith-based groups to provide emergency relief, defend religious freedom, and combat human trafficking, stating that faith-based organizations provide “unparalleled access to local populations and a fierce dedication to human dignity.”

In April, the embassy publicized the work of the evangelical Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse in creating and staffing an emergency field hospital in Cremona, Italy, in an online video. 

“As the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, faith-based organizations are playing a vital role,” Gingrich said in the video. 

Nearly 30,000 people have died in Italy’s coronavirus outbreak, according to the Italian Ministry of Health’s statistics on May 7. At least 89,000 people remain infected with COVID-19 in Italy after a total of more than 215,000 cases were documented, mostly in the north of the country.

Due to Italy’s nationwide lockdown, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See has had to cancel several events it had scheduled for the spring, including a symposium, “Confronting the global rise of anti-Semitism,” scheduled to coincide with the opening of the Vatican’s archives on Pope Pius XII. 

However, the ambassador said that she has continued to speak with members of the diplomatic community via weekly video conferences.

“This pandemic will greatly affect our priorities and activities going forward. However, through meetings, symposiums, and cultural diplomacy, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See will continue our important work with the Vatican to advance peace, freedom, and human dignity around the world,” Gingrich said.