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NEWS ÜVERVIEW
Understandi World Events and Trends
Vatican's
Political
Activism
I
n 1985, the Vatican
showed that it is a force to
be reckoned with on the
world's diplomatic fronts.
On May 2 Argentina and
Chile signed a
Vatican-mediated pact
ending a century-old, often
bitter dispute over the
Beagle Channel in Tierra del
Fuego, at the tip of South
America. Pope John Paul 11
stepped into the dispute in
1979 at the request of the
two predominantly Catholic
South American rivals.
The Vatican's diplomatic
concerns, however, are not
limited merely to impartial
arbitration.
On July 2 the Pope
devoted the fourth encyclical
of his papacy (an encyclical
is a papal letter informing
the Roman Catholic Church
40
of a matter of importance)
to the work of two
ninth-century heroic figures
who brought traditional
Christianity, as well as other
tenets of Western culture, to
the Slavic peoples of
Eastern Europe. The two
missionaries were the
brothers Cyril and
lgnorance to
Blame in
Child Deaths
M
ore children in Africa
and Asia die from
parental ignorance about
how and when to wean
them !han die from lamine.
Likewise, more children die
from parental failure to
properly manage diarrhea
than because of various
disease epidemics. So says
a recen! study of conditions
that affect child health.
Seventeen million children
die each year from poor
Methodius.
Earlier in the year John
Paul 11 had designated the
Greek-born brothers as
patron saints of Europe.
"The symbolic importance
being attached to this
choice ," according to
Roberto Farmigoni , an ltalian
member of the European
Parlíament, " highlights the
Pope's vision of a united
Europe."
About two centuries alter
the missionary work of Cyril
and Methodius, Europe was
divided spirituall y between
the Roman church in the
West and the Orthodox
community in the East. Since
1945, Europe has been
politically divided as well
What the world is now
seeing, writes columnist
Georgie Anne Geyer, is
"Pope John Paul ll's
determined
Ostpo/ítík . . .
to
nutrition and childhood
diseases - mostly in Third
World nations. Some two
thirds could be saved if their
parents had better basic
education and guidance in
family planning, according to
a Worldwatch lnstitute
report.
Author William Chandler
notes that many women in
Africa begin weaning a child
at 18 months or older. Many
of these children suddenly
receive hard-to-chew adult
food or food that offers
insufficient nourishment.
Mr. Chandler says the
resulting malnutrition kills 1
O
times as many children as
bridge the chasm between
the Roman Catholic and the
Eastern rile churches ...
and closer ties between
Roman Catholicism and
Eastern Orthodoxy."
This fusion, if it can be
implemented, will have its
impact in the política! field
as the key to European
unity.
John Paul 11 said the two
saints were " the connecting
links or spiritual bridge
between the Eastern and
Western traditions, which
both come together in the
one great tradition of the
universal church. Not even
today does there exist any
other way of overcoming
tensions and repairing the
divisions and antagonism
both in Europe and in the
world , which threaten to
cause a frightful destruction
of lives and values." •
does lamine.
Also, waiting at least two
years between births could
reduce infant mortality by
11 percent. Avoiding
high-risk pregnancies–
those in women under
the age of 20 or over the
age of 35-would reduce
infant mortality another 5
percent.
Higher risks of infant
mortality are involved in later
births and in cases where
only short intervals have
passed since previous
births, when the mother 's
nutritional reserves are
depleted and overall health
is poorer . •
The
PLAIN TRUTH