Pope praises fishermen who clean up polluted seas

MSN – AFP, 18 January 2020

Pope Francis on Saturday praised fishermen cleaning up polluted seas by collecting the rubbish caught in their nets and bringing it back to land to dispose of it.

It is estimated that 80 percent of waste in the sea comes from land and 20 

percent from boats and the fishing industry (Filippo MONTEFORTE)

Fishermen from San Benedetto del Tronto in Italy, who voluntarily collect around a tonne of litter a week and then sort it to be recycled where possible, met Francis at the Vatican.

"I would like to express my particular appreciation for the seabed clean-up," Francis told them.

"This initiative is very important, both for the large amount of waste, especially plastic waste, that you have recovered, and -- and I would say above all -- because it can and is already becoming a repeatable model in other areas of Italy and abroad".

Fishermen say they get so much plastic in their nets that it stops 

them being able to catch fish (Filippo MONTEFORTE)

Some 60 percent of the waste the fishermen collect is plastic.

The pope said the project was a great example of how civil society could to its part to help fix global problems -- and hoped it would inspire institutions to step up and shoulder their own responsibilities.

It is estimated that 80 percent of waste in the sea comes from land and 20 percent from boats and the fishing industry.

A study by the peer-reviewed Public Library of Science (PLOS) published in 2015 estimated that the Mediterranean contains 1,000-3,000 tonnes of floating plastic, with an unknown quantity on the seabed.

The Nile river delivers at least 1,500 tonnes of plastic into the Med annually, according to the PLOS study.

Sperm whales wash up regularly on Italian beaches, their stomachs full of plastic, and fishermen tell of getting so much plastic in their nets that it stops them being able to catch fish.

Much of the rubbish is single-use, such as bottles, plates and cutlery, but also includes old nets from fishing or mussel farming and assorted random plastic objects, from medical products to fax machine parts.

Pope urges clean up of plastic waste from oceans

Yahoo – AFP, 1 September 2018

Pope Francis said access to water was a basic right

Pope Francis on Saturday issued a call to clear up oceans threatened by plastic waste and underscored the need to provide drinking water to all as a basic right.

"We cannot allow our seas and oceans to be littered by endless fields of floating plastic," the pontiff said in a message on the fourth World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.

"Sadly, all too many efforts fail due to the lack of effective regulation and means of control, particularly with regard to the protection of marine areas beyond national confines."

The pope also said that access "to safe drinkable water is a basic and universal human right" and deplored that for many it was "difficult if not impossible.

"Our world owes a great social debt towards the poor who lack access to drinking water, because they are denied the right to a life consistent with their inalienable dignity," he said.

Pope Francis urges dialogue on Bolivia-Chile sea dispute

On a visit to the city of La Paz, Pope Francis has called for dialogue between Chile and Bolivia over a long-running border dispute. His time in the city, among the highest on Earth, was limited on medical grounds.

Deutsche Welle, 9 July 2015

Francis landed in La Paz early on Wednesday evening, welcomed by choirs who sang in the indigenous Aymara language.

He was met by Bolivian President Evo Morales, a champion of Latin America's radical left and Bolivia's first indigenous president. Francis greeted Bolivians with a message of inclusion, continuing the central theme of his three-nation tour of South America.

He praised the country for taking important steps to make its poor and indigenous less marginalized. Bolivia is South America's poorest nation.

Morales handed Francis - whose language often echoes that of the leftist Liberation Theology movement - two politically-charged gifts. One was a crucifix carved into a Communist hammer and sickle. The other was a copy of "The Book of the Sea," - about the loss of Bolivia's access to the sea in the War of the Pacific with Peru between 1879 and 1883.

'Raise bridges, not walls'

In a speech to civil authorities in La Paz later, Francis urged countries to improve diplomatic relations "in order to avoid conflicts between sister peoples and advance frank and open dialogue about their problems."

"I'm thinking about the sea here," said the pope, referring to the ongoing dispute between the two countries which is set to be ruled upon by the International Court of Justice by the end of the year. "Dialogue is indispensable. Instead of raising walls, we need to be building bridges."

Short stay at altitude

Although the pope had praised Bolivia earlier, he also denounced a pervasive "atmosphere of inequality," and lamented that welcome economic growth had "opened the door to corruption."

With La Paz standing more than 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) above sea level, extra oxygen tanks were on hand for Francis, who lost a lung during his youth.

Aboard the flight from Ecuador, where the Argentine pope began his "homecoming" tour to South America, Francis was said to have drunk a tea made of a mix of coca leaves, chamomile and anise seeds to ward off the effects of altitude.

However, medical considerations meant that the pontiff's time in La Paz was limited to four hours, before he flew on to Santa Cruz in Bolivia's central lowlands, for a two-day stay.

rc/jr (AFP, AP, Reuters)

Fury as 700 feared dead in 'avoidable' Med shipwreck

Yahoo – AFP, Angus MacKinnon, 19 April 2015

In this video grab released by the Italian Coast Guard on April 19, 2015, a 

helicopter and a ship take part in a rescue operation off the coast of Sicily

following a shiprwreck last night (AFP Photo)

Rome (AFP) - More than 700 people are feared to have drowned after an overcrowded boat smuggling them to Europe capsized off Libya, officials said Sunday, prompting demands for the European Union to react to the Mediterranean's deadliest migrant disaster to date.

Italy's coastguard, which was coordinating the search for survivors and bodies, said only 28 people had survived a wreck that triggered fresh calls from Pope Francis and others for European leaders to act over what many saw as an avoidable tragedy.

The UN refuguee agency (UNHCR) said survivors' testimonies suggested there had been around 700 people on board the 20-metre (70-foot) fishing boat when it keeled over in darkness overnight, officials said.

A boat transporting migrants arrives in 

the port of Messina after a rescue

 operation on April 18, 2015 in Sicily

(AFP Photo/Giovanni Isolino)

"It seems we are looking at the worst massacre ever seen in the Mediterranean," UNHCR spokeswoman Carlotta Sami said.

A Bangladeshi survivor who was helicoptered to hospital in Sicily put the numbers on board at 950 and said 200 women and children and nearly 50 children had been among them, according to prosecutors in the city of Catania.

As Italy demanded an emergency summit of European Union leaders, the bloc's foreign ministers tabled talks on the issue for Monday. Anger among NGOs was underlined by Amnesty International, which described the disaster as a predictable "man-made tragedy".

View galleryA boat transporting migrants arrives in the port of …

A boat transporting migrants arrives in the port of Messina after a rescue operation on April 18, 20 …

Coastal authorities in Italy and Malta picked up a distress signal from the stricken vessel around midnight (2200 GMT) on Saturday, when it was still in Libyan waters.

The Italian coastguard instructed a nearby merchant ship to provide assistance and it was when the Portuguese-registered King Jacob arrived at the scene that the fishing boat capsized, most likely as a result of the terrified passengers stampeding to one side in their desperation to get off, the UNHCR's Sami said.

Italian, Maltese and merchant boats scoured the area for survivors but only 24 bodies were recovered. They were due to arrive in Malta on Monday morning while survivors are being taken to Sicily.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said the coastguard would seek to salvage the boat and ensure any corpses recovered from it were given a decent funeral.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, a former Italian foreign minister, called the disaster a stain on the EU's conscience.

A boat transporting migrants arrives in

 the port of Messina after a rescue

 operation on April 18, 2015 in Sicily

(AFP Photo/Giovanni Isolino)

"We have said too many times 'never again'. Now is time for the European Union as such to tackle these tragedies without delay."

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, added: "This disaster confirms how urgent it is to restore a robust rescue-at-sea operation and establish credible legal avenues to reach Europe. Otherwise people seeking safety will continue to perish at sea."

Worst tragedy yet

The disaster was the latest in a growing catalogue of mass drownings of migrants attempting to reach Europe on overcrowded, unseaworthy boats run by people smugglers who are able to operate out of Libya with impunity because of the chaos engulfing the north African state.

The deadliest incident prior to Sunday occurred off Malta in September 2014. An estimated 500 migrants drowned in a shipwreck caused by traffickers deliberately ramming the boat in an attempt to force the people on board onto another, smaller vessel.

View galleryMigrants sit in a boat during a rescue operation off …

Migrants sit in a boat during a rescue operation off the coast of Sicily in 2014 (AFP Photo/-)

In October 2013, more than 360 Africans perished when the tiny boat they were crammed onto caught fire within sight of the coast of Lampedusa.

That tragedy was described at the time as a wake-up call to the world but 18 months later there is no sign of a let-up in the numbers attempting the perilous crossing in search of a better life in Europe.

The latest disaster comes after a week in which two other migrant shipwrecks left an estimated 450 people dead.

If the worst fears about Sunday's tragedy are confirmed, it will take the death toll since the start of 2015 to more than 1,600.

Migrants sit in a boat during a rescue operation off the coast of Sicily

in 2014 (AFP Photo)

More than 11,000 other would-be immigrants have been rescued since the middle of last week and current trends suggest last year's total of 170,000 migrants landing in Italy is likely to be exceeded in 2015.

Avoidable deaths?

Pope Francis urged EU leaders to "act decisively and quickly to stop these tragedies from recurring".

Amnesty's John Dalhuisen called Sunday's accident a "man-made tragedy of appalling proportions."

"These latest deaths at sea come as a shock, but not a surprise."

Amnesty is among NGOs calling for the restoration of an Italian navy search-and-rescue operation known as Mare Nostrum which was suspended at the end of last year.

Italy scaled back the mission after failing to persuade its European partners to help meet its operating costs of nine million euros ($9.7 million) a month amid divisions over whether the mission was unintentionally encouraging migrants to attempt the crossing.

Mare Nostrum has been replaced by a much smaller EU-run operation called Triton.

Pope urges global response to migrant crisis in Mediterranean

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"Return of the Masters" - Apr 11-12, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - New

Pope braves storm for emotional Philippine typhoon memorial

Yahoo – AFP, Jean-Louis de la Vaissiere, 17 Jan 2015

Pope Francis, wearing a plastic raincoat, waves to well-wishers after

a mass in Tacloban, on January 17, 2015 (AFP Photo/Johannes Eisele)

Tacloban (Philippines) (AFP) - Pope Francis braved heavy rain Saturday to celebrate an emotional mass with a sea of weeping survivors of a super typhoon in the Philippines that killed thousands, saying their pain silenced his heart.

Francis flew in from the national capital of Manila to Tacloban, one of the cities devastated 14 months ago, to be greeted by hundreds of thousands of people but also another severe tropical storm.

"Long live the pope," the crowd chanted as he walked off the plane to be immediately buffeted by strong winds and intense rain, which later in the day forced him to cut short his trip to other typhoon-hit areas.

Devotees pray during a mass held by Pope

 Francis, in Tacloban, central Philippines, on

 January 17, 2015 (AFP Photo/Johannes 

Eisele)

His welcome echoed the rapturous reception that millions gave the pontiff during the first two days of his trip to the Philippines, reinforcing its status as the Catholic Church's bastion in Asia.

Most of the people in the crowd at Tacloban wore thin yellow plastic ponchos handed out by organisers, and the pope also put one on before walking on to a nearby stage to celebrate mass in heavy rain.

"I would like to tell you something close to my heart," the pope said as many in the crowd clutched crucifixes and cried.

"When I saw in Rome that catastrophe, I felt I had to be here. And on those very days, I decided to come here. I'm here to be with you."

Super Typhoon Haiyan, the most powerful storm ever recorded on land, left 7,350 people dead or missing in November 2013 as it devastated fishing and farming towns on central islands that were already among the Philippines' poorest.

Many of those communities are still struggling to recover, with the rubble of destroyed buildings lying in piles and millions of felled coconut trees strewn across idle farmland.

The 78-year-old pontiff acknowledged the enduring pain being experienced by the survivors.

"Some of you have lost part of your families. All I can do is keep silent. And I walk with you all with my silent heart," he said.

The pope sought to reassure his audience, declaring Jesus would never let them down.

Francis's five-day visit to the Philippines is partly aimed at helping the Church expand its influence in Asia, but he had repeatedly said giving comfort to typhoon survivors was his top priority.

Renewed hope

"I can't explain how I feel. I am filled with gratitude. Never in my life did I think that I'd see a pope," 68-year-old housewife Virginia Torres told AFP, wiping tears and raindrops from her face after the pontiff left the mass venue.

Torres, whose house two hours' drive from Tacloban was wiped out by storm surges, said the pope's address had given her "renewed hope" even while filling her with pain.

"I was overwhelmed with emotion, especially when he mentioned that he can relate to our suffering... everything that we went through came back."

The pope was due to spend the entire day in Tacloban and nearby areas that had also been destroyed by Haiyan.

However Tropical Storm Mekkhala, which was expected to bring much more intense rain to the region in the afternoon, forced the pope to cut short his trip.

In the town of Palo, about 12 kilometres (seven miles) from Tacloban, he told a crowd of thousands who had gathered at the main church that he needed to leave quickly to avoid the storm.

Pope Francis (C) holds a holy mass in Tacloban, on January 17, 2015 (AFP

Photo/Johannes Eisele)

"So I apologise to you all. I'm sad about this, truly saddened. Because I had something prepared especially for you," he said.

His motorcade then raced back to the airport and he departed shortly after 1:00 pm (0500 GMT), four hours earlier than scheduled. However the main event of the day was the morning mass.

The Philippines endures an average of about 20 major storms a year, many of them deadly.

But the unprecedented strength of Haiyan, with winds of 315 kilometres an hour, was an extreme weather event consistent with man-made climate change, the United Nations' weather agency and scientists have said.

Huge crowds

The Philippines has long been the Church's stronghold in the region, with Catholics accounting for 80 percent of the former Spanish colony's population.

Massive crowds gathered along the pontiff's motorcade routes during his first two days in the Philippines.

Pope-mania was expected to reach a peak on Sunday, with organisers expecting him to attract as many as six million people for mass at a Manila park.

If as big as expected, the crowd will surpass the previous record for a papal gathering of five million during a mass by John Paul II at the same venue in 1995.

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"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Weather

Let's talk about the weather. We retreat to exactly what we told you before in this very chair. The water cycle is a cooling cycle, not a heating cycle. You're going to have more severe winters and storms. It's going to get colder. But it gets warmer before it gets colder. That is the cycle, and it has always been the cycle. You can see it in the rings of the trees and the cores of the ice. Don't let your scientists pull the political wool over your eyes for their own purposes. Start seeing these things for what they are. It's a recurring cycle based on four Earth alignment attributes, including the wobble (the precession). You're in this cycle. Prepare.

The beginnings of it will be with you from now at least until the end of the 2012 36-year window, and you can watch it work. The first thing that happens is that the ice melts at the poles, but not completely. It's the way it has happened before. As the redistribution of weight from the poles to the oceans of the earth takes place, the weight is redistributed to the crust, and that creates earthquakes. And the earthquakes that will be the most powerful are the ones that are closest to the poles. We told you that some time ago. So it's not a mystery that suddenly you have some of the most powerful earthquakes that you've ever had. Not only that, but a cooling ocean creates larger storms.

What do the conspiracists do with all this? "See? We're doomed. Here it comes," they say. "Here it comes! The end is here!" Twenty-two years ago, we gave you the information that is happening today. We told you about the weather. We told you to get ready for it, but we still haven't told you why the water cycle is needed. We've hinted at it since it is very controversial, and we'll lose many readers right here and now. Here's the prediction: The scientists are going to laugh and biologists are going to scratch their heads and roll their eyes.

The Refreshing of the Cycle of Life

When you change the temperature of the waters of the planet, it changes the life cycle of the ocean and it eventually renews itself. The life cycle of the planet has a limit to its viability over time. There has to be a refreshing of the very cycle of life, and this is what the water cycle does. Are there any places you've seen too many fish lately? Yes. Millions of salmon in the north. Odd that it was in Alaska, isn't it? Alaska is very close to the poles where the water temperature is being felt first. Oh, again the experts will tell you that this is not the reason. It's about hatcheries and rivers. But nobody predicted this, did they? Science is fast to give you reasons, but slow to give you logic in advance. They always seem to be surprised.

We are saying things we haven't said before. Again, watch for this, an actual change in the life cycle of the planet's oceans because of the water temperature shift. Biologists are going to have to start redesigning the paradigm of how everything works, including reefs, ocean bottoms, and how plankton survive and reproduce. Listen, this is not the first time that the life cycle has been refreshed! But again, this may take generations of humanity to complete. In the process, you may again lose species. This is normal. Gaia is slow, and Humans are impatient. Your textbooks may someday tell of how naive humanity was back in 2011 when they tried to blame weather changes on everything but a natural cycle. Now you know why there is a water cycle.

So what does that tell you about Gaia? Gaia is beginning the cycle of refreshing life on over-fished oceans. It tells you that in the cracks, there is love and caring about the Humans who live on the earth. There's a reason you're here. There's a plan here, and a benevolent Universe and quantum energy with intelligent design. All is there for you, precious, sacred Human Being. …”

British Columbia salmon return one of largest seen in region (Sep 2013)

Pink salmon, shown in a file photograph, 

have a lifespan of two years

.