Alleviating the "acute suffering of the poor" in North Korea must take priority over military action if the current crisis on the Korean peninsula is to be resolved, the umbrella group representing Catholic charities worldwide has said. Members of Caritas Internationalis met in Beijing from June 13-15 to discuss the growing tensions in northeast Asia following North Korea's recent nuclear weapon tests and its vows to strengthen its arms program. "Armed intervention in response to North Korea's belligerent actions will only cause further human tragedy and compound the suffering of the people there," said the Caritas Internationalis secretary-general, Lesley-Anne Knight. "Genuine negotiations with concrete outcomes for improving the daily living conditions of the people are vital steps in reducing the suffering and engaging with North Korea to find a solution to this crisis," she said. The U.N. Security Council imposed tougher sanctions on North Korea after the reclusive Pyongyang government conducted its second nuclear test May 25. The Security Council's unanimous action on June 12 included a stepped-up arms embargo and new financial curbs that would extend a list of North Korean entities, goods and individuals subjected to an assets freeze and travel ban first outlined in a 2006 resolution.
Caritas: Use Humanitarian Aid to End Korean Crisis
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” which turns 75 this year, was a huge hit by any commercial or critical standard. In 1949, it pulled off an unprecedented trifecta, winning the New York Drama Circle Critics’ Award, the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. So attention must be paid!
In Part II of his exclusive interview with Gerard O’Connell, the rector of the soon-to-be integrated Gregorian University describes his mission to educate seminarians who are ‘open to growth.’
My recent visit to the Holy Land revealed fear and depression but also the grit and resilience of a people to whom the prophets preached and for whom Jesus wept.
The Gregorian’s American-born rector, Mark Lewis, S.J., describes how three Jesuit academic institutes in Rome will be integrated to better serve a changing church.