Syrian crisis. It was thought by many that the Syrian refugee flow was   
   temporary   
   and such refugees would leave their countries of asylum in a matter of months.   
   Now, after four years of conflict, it appears likely that these refugees will   
   remain and the locals have to learn to live side by side with them. ? In the   
   camps, there areonly 40 teachers for more than 1,000 students, aged 6 to 17. ?   
   For different reasons, whether in their home countries or in the refugee camps,   
   children find an inadequate education system that jeopardizes their future.   
   Everywhere there is an urgent need for an education system that could absorb   
   these children and bring some normalcy to their lives.?   
   ?Third, another disruptive consequence of the continuing violence that torments   
   the Middle East is the separation of family members, which forces many minors   
   to   
   fend for themselves. ? To prevent the further exploitation of children and to   
   protect them properly, an additional effort should be made to facilitate the   
   reunification of minors with their respective families.?   
   ?The right to a legal identity, to an adequate education, and to a family,? the   
   archbishop concluded, ?are key elements and specific requirements in a   
   comprehensive system of protection for children. Such measuresrequire the close   
   collaboration of all stakeholders. Access to quality education and   
   psycho-social   
   care, together with other basic services, is extremely important. However,   
   children cannot benefit from such services unless they are registered at birth   
   and their families and communities are supported to protect them better. If the   
   violence does not stop and the normal pace of education and development is not   
   resumed, these children are at risk of becoming a lost generation.?   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Freedoms of Religion and Expression: Adopting an Ethics of Responsibility   
   Vatican City, 27 March 2015 (VIS) ? On 10 March, Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi,   
   Holy See Permanent Observer to the United Nations and other international   
   organizations in Geneva, spoke at the 28th meeting of the Council for Human   
   Rights. His speech, the majority of which is presented here below, emphasized   
   the fundamental importance of religious freedom as well as the freedom of   
   expression.   
   ?The International Community is now confronted with a delicate, complex, and   
   urgent challenge with regard to respect for religious sensibilities and the   
   need   
   for peaceful coexistence in an ever more pluralistic world: namely, that of   
   establishing a fair relationship between freedom of expression and freedom of   
   religion. The relationship between these fundamental human rights has proven   
   difficult to manage and to address on either a normative or institutional   
   level.   
   On theother hand, it should be recognized ?that the open, constructive, and   
   respectful debate of ideas, as well as interfaith and intercultural dialogue at   
   the local, national, and international levels, can play a positive role in   
   combating religious hatred, incitement, and violence.? Failure in this effort   
   is   
   evident when an excessive and irresponsible use of freedom of expression   
   results   
   in intimidation, threats, and verbal abuse and these infringe upon freedom of   
   religion and can sadly lead to intolerance and violence. Likewise, the Special   
   Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion has focused on the violence committed ?in the   
   name of religion?, and on its root causes.?   
   ?Unfortunately, violence abounds today. If genocide means any act committed   
   with   
   the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or   
   religious group, as such, then the International Community as a whole is   
   certainly witnessing a sort of genocide in some regions of theworld, where the   
   enslavement and sale of women and children, the killing of young men, the   
   burning, beheading and the forcing into exile of people continue. In this   
   context, the Delegation of the Holy See would like to submit to the joint   
   reflection of the Human Rights Council that these and other unspeakable crimes   
   are being committed against people belonging to ancient communities simply   
   because their belief, social system, and culture are different from the   
   fundamentalist combatants of the so-called ?Islamic State? group. The appeal to   
   religion in order to murder people and destroy the evidence of human creativity   
   developed in the course of history makes the on-going atrocities even more   
   revulsive and damnable. An adequate response from the International Community,   
   which should finally put aside sectarian interests and save lives, is a moral   
   imperative.?   
   ?Violence, however, does not stem from religion but from its false   
   interpretation or itstransformation into ideology. In addition, the same   
   violence can derive from the idolatry of State or of the economy, and it can be   
   an effect of secularization. All these phenomena tend to eliminate individual   
   freedom and responsibility towards others. But, violence is always an   
   individual?s act and a decision that implies personal responsibility. It is in   
   fact by adopting an ethics of responsibility that the way toward the future can   
   become fruitful, preventing violence and breaking the impasse between extreme   
   positions: one that upholds any form of freedom of expression and the other   
   that   
   rejects any criticism of a religion. ??   
   ?Freedom of expression that is misused to wound the dignity of persons by   
   offending their deepest convictions sows the seeds of violence. Of course,   
   freedom of expression is a fundamental human right that is always to be upheld   
   and protected; in fact, it also implies the obligation to say in a responsible   
   way what a person thinksin view of the common good. ? It does not, however,   
   justify relegating religion to a subculture of insignificant weight or to an   
   acceptable easy target of ridicule and discrimination. Antireligious arguments   
   even in the form of irony can surely be accepted, as it is acceptable to use   
   irony about secularism or atheism. Criticism of religious thinking can even   
   help   
   dismantle various extremisms. But what can justify gratuitous insults and   
   spiteful derision of the religious feelings and convictions of others who are,   
   after all, equal in dignity? Can we make fun of the cultural identity of a   
   person, of the colour of his skin, of the belief of his heart? A ?right to   
   offend? does not exist. ??   
   ?Several mutually interdependent issues like freedom of religion, freedom of   
   expression, religious intolerance, and violence in the name of religion come   
   together in the concrete situations the world faces today. The way forward   
   seems   
   to be the adoption of acomprehensive approach that would consider these issues   
   together in domestic legislation and deal with them in such a way that they may   
   facilitate a peaceful coexistence based on the respect of the inherent human   
   dignity and rights of every person. While opting to be on the side of freedom,   
   the consequences of its exercise cannot be ignored and they should respect this   
   dignity and, thus, build a more humane and more brotherly global society.?   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:   
   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
   Copyright (VIS):  the news contained in the services of the Vatican   
   Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting   
   the source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.   
   http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)