Card Peter K. Turkson

The celebration of the "Remembrance Day": the end of the Holocaust, teaches us that EVIL NEVER TRIUMPHS, however mighty it may seem! God always has the last Word!

Zacharia, father of John Baptist recalled God's promise to "free us from hands of the enemy, so we can worship God in holiness & justice all days of our life" (Lk 1:74-75). Lent = the time, with our fasting, prayer & sharing, to work for this freedom to worship God in holiness...

I had difficulty celebrating Remembrance day ofSHOAH this year. The stripping of Palestinians and lining them up into prison with hands above their head was beginning to acquire certain features of Shoah; and I understood the midnight call: for whom will you pray at Mass tomorrow

Advent Prayer: May light of Hanukkah & Light of Christmas shine on path to peace in Near East, not based on tunnels,arms, mutual killings & graveyards, but on fundamental human values: personal dignity of people, work in solidarity for common good, respect one another in justice!

I prepared for Feast of Christ the King debating motion: GOD IS A DELUSION at Oxford Union Debates. God is not delusion; God is love. He calls us into loving relationship where He reveals Himself. He is not conclusion of scientific method; a QED. PROOF OF GOD = MISSION OF JESUS!

Friends, called to be saints with the saints we celebrate today: we=God's children now struggling with sin; for we, with all of creation, await our liberation from bondage to the decay of sin.Our victory over sin=proof of being children of God & the revelation of His glory in us!

In the brokenness of religion in our world, everybody is looking to justify the existence of his own broken piece!

In the brokenness of religion in our world, everybody is looking to justify his own broken piece!

We remember the Ugandan martyrs today: Like the North African Christians in days of Emperor Diocletian (4th. Cent.) they preferred to die for celebrating Eucharist: they preferred to die to living WITHOUT THE EUCHARIST! So, Lord teach to us hunger for You, the true Bread of Life!

Today, PENTECOST Sunday, we celebrate fulfilment of Jesus' promise to send his followers the Holy Spirit & his gifts: 7 gifts of Is.11:2 for our personal lives of holiness, & other gifts (1Cor.12-14; Eph.4:7ff.etc) for what we do to build up Church. But for all I pray for peace

With war, everything is lost; but with peace, there is everything to gain. The devastation of Ukraine corresponds to Russia's wobbling economy, Germany's recession & U.S.A's mounting domestic debt etc. But talk about Economic malaise skips pain their economies cause in Ukraine.

What a cruel irony!! The G-7 meeting is taking place in a Japanese city that has suffered the dreadful evil of war more than any people on earth. But this is where the G-7 has chosen to gather to plan another war instead of discovering the path to peace!

Having prayed in the special celebrations of the past 3 days which constitute Easter, let's now desire & welcome the gift of PEACE, the first gift the Risen Lord bestows on us & our world: peace in our hearts, peace in our homes & workplaces, peace between Russia & Ukraine!

Story of healing of man born blind by Jesus -makes me recall also forms of blindness: situations without clarity of direction & outcome, - & so pray that leaders see path of peace not in matching might/ forces, but in diplomacy of Fraternity, where every killing is fratricide!

Lent 2023: In this Christian period of abstinence, prayer & almsgiving, I want to join you in your journey of conversion, praying earnestly for all who want to give up bad habit or conduct: quit smoking, give up drunkenness, scolding spouses & children, but learn to smile & greet

Our Fathers have told us already in the past: With war, all is lost; with peace, nothing is lost! So Lord, breathe on us newly the gift of peace. Awaken within our hearts an awareness of being brothers & sisters, whence every killing is fratricide. Help us yearn for PEACE!

These are days of folly & days of shame: when world leaders gather and show lack of historical memory: 60 yrs ago with Cuba. In past few days, they sought not peace nor way to it. They stoke war, cause more suffering for Ukraine and make world totter on precipice of nuclear war!

On Africa&Hope,in Angola BenedictXVI said:All upright human conduct=Hope in action. So,to Africa leaders:Friends, armed with integrity,magnanimity,compassion you can transform continent, freeing peoplefrom scourges of greed,violence &lead along path ofprinciples ofcivic democracy

Today, Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI was laid to rest in St Peter's Basilica. For us in Africa his appeal in Cononou to political & economic leaders =still valid: I've often joined the word hope to Africa. Do not deprive your peoples of hope. To talk of hope =to talk of the future

This is with prayerful wishes for peace & for every Blessing of New Year on you all! 60 yrs ago, during Cuban crisis (1963) our world tothered on brink of nuclear war. 60yrs later (2023) with Ukrainian crisis our world tothers again on brink of nuclear war. Let's learn to pray!