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Pope and Von der Leyen meet to discuss war in Ukraine

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Pope and Von der Leyen meet to discuss war in Ukraine - Vatican News

By Vatican News staff reporter

The Holy See Press Office said Friday that the Pope met with Ms. Von der Leyen in the Secretariat of State and that their talks were “cordial”.

The Pope and the European Commission President “focused on the good bilateral relations and common commitment to work to bring the war in Ukraine to an end, dedicating particular attention to the humanitarian aspects and the food consequences of the continuation of the conflict.”

They also spoke about the “conclusions of the Conference on the future of Europe and on the consequences for the future structure of the Union.”

Responding to reporters’ questions, Matteo Bruni, Director of the Holy See Press Office, said the two spoke about “the war in Ukraine, the climate, and sustainable architecture.”

Ms. Von der Leyen met afterwards with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations.




Pope Francis shows Ms. Von der Leyen a gift



Ms. Von der Leyen greets the Pope



Ms. Von der Leyen met afterwards with Cardinal Parolin

Stellar “Ghost” Discovered: Astronomers May Have Detected a “Dark” Free-Floating Black Hole

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Black Hole Artist Illustration
Black-Hole-Artist-Illustration-777x466-1

Gravitational microlensing turns up When massive stars come to the end of their lives and explode in a supernova, they leave behind a black hole. It is estimated that about one in a thousand stars is massive enough to give birth to a black hole. With the galaxy.

Article by University of California – Berkeley

Yet black holes by their very nature can be very hard to detect, especially if they are isolated. After all, a black hole has such powerful gravity that light doesn’t escape, so we generally detect them by their gravitational influence on other objects or by radiation created by the surrounding matter they are devouring. Without nearby objects or accreting matter, there could be hundreds of millions of black holes throughout our galaxy that are essentially invisible to astronomers.

If, as astronomers believe, the death of large stars leaves behind black holes, there should be hundreds of millions of them scattered throughout the Milky Way galaxy. The problem is, isolated black holes are invisible.

Now, a team led by gravitational microlensing.

The team, led by graduate student Casey Lam and Jessica Lu, a UC Berkeley associate professor of astronomy, estimates that the mass of the invisible compact object is between 1.6 and 4.4 times that of the sun. Because astronomers think that the leftover remnant of a dead star must be heavier than 2.2 solar masses in order to collapse to a black hole, the UC Berkeley researchers caution that the object could be a Whether a black hole or a neutron star, the object is the first dark stellar remnant — a stellar “ghost” — discovered wandering through the galaxy unpaired with another star.

” sizes=”(max-width: 777px) 100vw, 777px” alt=”Microlensing by Compact Object” width=”777″ height=”731″ aria-describedby=”caption-attachment-176455″ data-ezsrcset=”https://european.express/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Microlensing-by-Compact-Object.jpg 744w,https://scitechdaily.com/images/Microlensing-by-Compact-Object-400×376.jpg 400w” data-ezsrc=”https://european.express/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Microlensing-by-Compact-Object.jpg” />

 

Hubble Space Telescope image of a distant star that was brightened and distorted by an invisible but very compact and heavy object between it and Earth. The compact object — estimated by UC Berkeley astronomers to be between 1.6 and 4.4 times the mass of our sun — could be a free-floating black hole, one of perhaps 200 million in the Milky Way galaxy. Credit: Image courtesy of STScI/NASA/ESA

“This is the first free-floating black hole or neutron star discovered with gravitational microlensing,” Lu said. “With microlensing, we’re able to probe these lonely, compact objects and weigh them. I think we have opened a new window onto these dark objects, which can’t be seen any other way.”


Determining how many of these compact objects populate the Milky Way galaxy will help astronomers understand the evolution of stars — in particular, how they die — and of our galaxy, and perhaps reveal whether any of the unseen black holes are primordial black holes, which some cosmologists think were produced in large quantities during the The analysis by Lam, Lu and their international team has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The analysis includes four other microlensing events that the team concluded were not caused by a black hole, though two were likely caused by a Same data, different conclusions

Notably, a competing team from the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore analyzed the same microlensing event and claims that the mass of the compact object is closer to 7.1 solar masses and indisputably a black hole. A paper describing the analysis by the STScI team, led by Kailash Sahu, has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.

Both teams used the same data: photometric measurements of the distant star’s brightening as its light was distorted or “lensed” by the super-compact object, and astrometric measurements of the shifting of the distant star’s location in the sky as a result of the gravitational distortion by the lensing object. The photometric data came from two microlensing surveys: the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE), which employs a 1.3-meter telescope in Chile operated by Warsaw University, and the Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA) experiment, which is mounted on a 1.8-meter telescope in New Zealand operated by Osaka University. The astrometric data came from
Because both microlensing surveys caught the same object, it has two names: MOA-2011-BLG-191 and OGLE-2011-BLG-0462, or OB110462, for short.

While surveys like these discover about 2,000 stars brightened by microlensing each year in the Milky Way galaxy, the addition of astrometric data is what allowed the two teams to determine the mass of the compact object and its distance from Earth. The UC Berkeley-led team estimated that it lies between 2,280 and 6,260 light years (700-1920 parsecs) away, in the direction of the center of the Milky Way Galaxy and near the large bulge that surrounds the galaxy’s central massive black hole.

The STScI group estimated that it lies about 5,153 light years (1,580 parsecs) away.

Looking for a needle in a haystack

Lu and Lam first became interested in the object in 2020 after the STScI team tentatively concluded that five microlensing events observed by Hubble — all of which lasted for more than 100 days, and thus could have been black holes — might not be caused by compact objects after all.



Lu, who has been looking for free-floating black holes since 2008, thought the data would help her better estimate their abundance in the galaxy, which has been roughly estimated at between 10 million and 1 billion. To date, star-sized black holes have been found only as part of binary star systems. Black holes in binaries are seen either in X-rays, produced when material from the star falls onto the black hole, or by recent gravitational wave detectors, which are sensitive to mergers of two or more black holes. But these events are rare.

“Casey and I saw the data and we got really interested. We said, ‘Wow, no black holes. That’s amazing,’ even though there should have been,” Lu said. “And so, we started looking at the data. If there were really no black holes in the data, then this wouldn’t match our model for how many black holes there should be in the Milky Way. Something would have to change in our understanding of black holes — either their number or how fast they move or their masses.”

When Lam analyzed the photometry and astrometry for the five microlensing events, she was surprised that one, OB110462, had the characteristics of a compact object: The lensing object seemed dark, and thus not a star; the stellar brightening lasted a long time, nearly 300 days; and the distortion of the background star’s position also was long-lasting.

The length of the lensing event was the main tipoff, Lam said. In 2020, she showed that the best way to search for black hole microlenses was to look for very long events. Only 1% of detectable microlensing events are likely to be from black holes, she said, so looking at all events would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. But, Lam calculated, about 40% of microlensing events that last more than 120 days are likely to be black holes.


“How long the brightening event lasts is a hint of how massive the foreground lens bending the light of the background star is,” Lam said. “Long events are more likely due to black holes. It’s not a guarantee, though, because the duration of the brightening episode not only depends on how massive the foreground lens is, but also on how fast the foreground lens and background star are moving relative to each other. However, by also getting measurements of the apparent position of the background star, we can confirm whether the foreground lens really is a black hole.”

According to Lu, the gravitational influence of OB110462 on the light of the background star was amazingly long. It took about one year for the star to brighten to its peak in 2011, then about a year to dim back to normal.

More data will distinguish black hole from neutron star

To confirm that OB110462 was caused by a super-compact object, Lu and Lam asked for more astrometric data from Hubble, some of which arrived last October. That new data showed that the change in position of the star as a result of the gravitational field of the lens is still observable 10 years after the event. Further Hubble observations of the microlens are tentatively scheduled for fall 2022.

Analysis of the new data confirmed that OB110462 was likely a black hole or neutron star.


Lu and Lam suspect that the differing conclusions of the two teams are due to the fact that the astrometric and photometric data give different measures of the relative motions of the foreground and background objects. The astrometric analysis also differs between the two teams. The UC Berkeley-led team argues that it is not yet possible to distinguish whether the object is a black hole or a neutron star, but they hope to resolve the discrepancy with more Hubble data and improved analysis in the future.

“As much as we would like to say it is definitively a black hole, we must report all allowed solutions. This includes both lower mass black holes and possibly even a neutron star,” Lu said.

“If you can’t believe the light curve, the brightness, then that says something important. If you don’t believe the position versus time, that tells you something important,” Lam said. “So, if one of them is wrong, we have to understand why. Or the other possibility is that what we measure in both data sets is correct, but our model is incorrect. The photometry and astrometry data arise from the same physical process, which means the brightness and position must be consistent with each other. So, there’s something missing there. ”

Both teams also estimated the velocity of the super-compact lensing object. The Lu/Lam team found a relatively sedate speed, less than 30 kilometers per second. The STScI team found an unusually large velocity, 45 km/s, which it interpreted as the result of an extra kick that the purported black hole got from the supernova that generated it.


Lu interprets her team’s low velocity estimate as potentially supporting a new theory that black holes are not the result of supernovas — the reigning assumption today — but instead come from failed supernovas that don’t make a bright splash in the universe or give the resulting black hole a kick.

Reference: “An isolated mass gap black hole or neutron star detected with astrometric microlensing” by Casey Y. Lam, Jessica R. Lu, Andrzej Udalski, Ian Bond, David P. Bennett, Jan Skowron, Przemek Mroz, Radek Poleski, Takahiro Sumi, Michal K. Szymanski, Szymon Kozlowski, Pawel Pietrukowicz, Igor Soszynski, Krzysztof Ulaczyk, Lukasz Wyrzykowski, Shota Miyazaki, Daisuke Suzuki, Naoki Koshimoto, Nicholas J. Rattenbury, Matthew W. Hosek Jr., Fumio Abe, Richard Barry, Aparna Bhattacharya, Akihiko Fukui, Hirosane Fujii, Yuki Hirao, Yoshitaka Itow, Rintaro Kirikawa, Iona Kondo, Yutaka Matsubara, Sho Matsumoto, Yasushi Muraki, Greg Olmschenk, Clement Ranc, Arisa Okamura, Yuki Satoh, Stela Ishitani Silva, Taiga Toda, Paul J. Tristram, Aikaterini Vandorou, Hibiki Yama, Natasha S. Abrams, Shrihan Agarwal, Sam Rose and Sean K. Terry, Accepted, The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
arXiv:2202.01903

The work of Lu and Lam is supported by the National Science Foundation (1909641) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNG16PJ26C, NASA FINESST 80NSSC21K2043).

 

Ingrida Šimonytė meets with Prime Minister of Denmark and President of European Parliament

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Ingrida Šimonytė meets with Prime Minister of Denmark and President of European Parliament
LITHUANIA, June 10 – Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has met with Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen, and President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola.

The Lithuanian and Danish colleagues have talked about support for Ukraine, the security situation in Europe, and the need to take joint decisions at the forthcoming NATO summit.

‘We are particularly grateful to Denmark for its long-term commitment to strengthening security in the Baltic region, which has gained special importance for us and for the entire NATO bloc since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  ‘Immediate support for Ukrainians, and NATO’S deterrence posture and reinforcement of the Eastern Flank of the alliance must top our agenda today, if we want to secure a long-term and lasting peace in Europe,’ said Prime Minister Šimonytė.

In her meeting with EP President Metsola, Prime Minister Šimonytė has discussed several issues of EU relevance, and the effects of the war caused by Russia. Prime Minister Šimonytė has thanked the European Parliament for its support in granting Ukraine an EU candidate status.

According to the Prime Minister, the solidarity of the international community is needed today for the unblocking of Ukraine’s ports.  

NASA Goes Retro With the Roman Space Observer Game

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NASA Goes Retro With the Roman Space Observer Game

The Roman Space Observer Game is a retro 8-bit style video game to promote the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Credit: GMG World Media/NALA Comm Development Team

 

Despite their low-resolution pixelated graphics, retro 8-bit style games are quite popular. Not just with older generations enjoying the nostalgia of the games they played in their childhood either; younger generations also enjoy these games.



Click here to play the Roman Space Observer Game.

With the ever-revolving loop of popular trends, retro 8-bit style games have made a big comeback in the gaming industry. Younger generations are now loving games that older generations still enjoy. This game is intended to entertain players across a wide variety of interests and skillsets, all while spreading the word of the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope and the fantastic science it will uncover.

Our goal for this game is to inform and inspire players about the amazing cosmic objects in our universe and what Roman may be able to see in a fun and engaging way.

NASA has released this game to help promote the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Previously known as WFIRST, this observatory is designed to uncover the secrets of dark energy and dark matter, search for and image exoplanets, and investigate many topics in infrared astrophysics. It promises a new era of cosmological discovery, an end to the cosmic dark ages, and new insight into the fate of the universe. Along the way, it will find exoplanets and solitary black holes as it works at solving the discrepancies in the Hubble Constant and unraveling the greatest cosmic mysteries.

SciTechDaily
SciTechDaily



 

Interview with the winner of 2022 LUX Audience Award

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Interview with the winner of LUX Audience Award 2022 | News | European Parliament
Quo Vadis, Aida? won the hearts and votes of European audiences and MEPs to take the 2022 LUX Audience Award.

The film recounts the story of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide through the eyes of Aida, a teacher turned translator for the UN peacekeeping forces.

The other two nominees in 2022 were Flee by Danish director Jonas Poher Rasmussen and Great Freedom by Austrian director Sebastian Meise.

Organised by the European Parliament and the European Film Academy in partnership with the European Commission and Europa Cinema, the award combines the votes of the public with those of MEPs  witheach group weighing 50%.

Read more about the 2022 LUX Audience Award nominees

Interview with the winner

After the award ceremony in Strasbourg, film director Jasmila Žbanić and Munira Subašić, a survivor of the Srebrenica genocide, took part in a live session on Facebook.

Talking about the main character Aida, the film’s director said: “I was inspired by the women of Srebrenica, like Munira. They have organisations who are changing Bosnian society. They are women who lost their sons and members of their families, and husbands, but they are still fighting for truth, fighting for reconciliation in our area, they are calling for peace and never spreading any words of hatred.”

As a survivor of the massacre, Subašić explained the importance of remembering what happened: “Unless we talk, things will be forgotten. In order for this not to be repeated with my grandchildren we have to speak the truth at all times and we have to wait for justice to be done. (…) Many children are being killed, many mothers are crying now in Ukraine.”

The sad similarities with the Ukraine war also struck Žbanić: “I was very shocked with news about the war. It triggered lots of sadness in Bosnia, people are really traumatised by the reappearance of war in Europe.” The same justifications are being used, she said. There are “a lot of lies, a lot of false justifications”.

The conversation ended on a hopeful note, with the director talking about young people who connected to the film, although they were not even born at the time of the events. “What I learned from reactions is that people want to see these films. Luckily we live in Europe where there are funds who support this kind of film…Tthrough arts and through films we can tell difficult stories that maybe will not take us to popcorn on Saturday night, but will give us other values.”

Learn more about the LUX Audience Award.

Book Talk: Avni Vyas, Emily Carr at Tombolo Books

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Book Talk: Avni Vyas, Emily Carr at Tombolo Books

Poet Gloria Muñoz hosts a discussion and signing by “Little God” author Avni Vyas and illustrator Mimi Cirbusova, along with poet Emily Carr (”Name Your Bird Without a Gun”), at 7 p.m. June 15 at Tombolo Books, 2153 First Ave. S, St. Petersburg. Free; RSVP at /tombolobooks.com/events.

Tombolo Books and Chelsea Catherine present a Pride Writers Panel, moderated by Silk Jazmyne Hindus and featuring fiction writers Sheree L. Greer (”Let the Lover Be”), Tenea D. Johnson (”Smoketown”), Maria Ingrande Mora (”Fragile Remedy”)at 7 p.m. June 16 at Tombolo Books, 2153 First Ave. S, St. Petersburg. Free; RSVP at /tombolobooks.com/events.

Bestselling thriller writer Steve Berry will discuss and sign his latest novel, “The Omega Factor,” at 6:30 p.m. June 17 at the Oxford Exchange, 420 W Kennedy Blvd., Tampa. Tickets $5 for admission or $31.16 for admission plus a signed copy of the book at oxfordexchange.com/pages/calendar.

Book Talk is a listing of in-person author appearances in the Tampa Bay area in the coming week. To place an item in Book Talk, send author’s name, book title, appearance time, date, venue name and address, admission cost (if any) and a contact phone number to cbancroft@tampabay.com, with “Book Talk” in the subject line. Deadline is 14 days before publication.

The law can help us make parks more inclusive

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The law can help us make parks more inclusive
Parks and public spaces don’t work for teenage girls, say campaigning charity Make Space for Girls. Up and down the country, outdoors facilities for teenagers are mostly used by boys, and girls end up with nowhere to go.

“Facilities for teenagers almost always means a skate park or a fenced pitch, which tend to be dominated by boys.” says Make Space for Girls co-founder Susannah Walker. “This discrimination often goes unnoticed – but that’s what we want to change.

This kind of structural inequality is what the Public Sector Equality Duty (part of the Equality Act 2010) is designed to address, by encouraging public bodies to consider potential discrimination in their decision making.

Imogen Clark is the other co-founder of Make Space for Girls and she thinks the duty has an important role to play. “Once councils become aware of the discrimination, most want to change things. The PSED provides a great framework to support this. But when we talk to councillors we get asked a lot of questions about how the duty works for parks and public spaces. So we are delighted to have teamed up with national law firm Weightmans to produce a note to respond to some of these.

The note covers all the most common questions and sets out how the PSED applies to facilities for teenagers and how councils can use it in practice to create parks and public spaces which work better for all teenagers.

Simon Goacher, Partner at Weightmans who assisted with the project said:
At Weightmans, we have worked hard to create an inclusive environment for all our

We are pleased to have been able to support Make Space for Girls with this advice note for local authorities on PSED, which we hope offers some clarity on how it can be used to develop and deliver accessible and safe facilities for girls within the community.

colleagues, and equality remains a key priority.

I would urge any council seeking guidance on the application of PSED to contact the firm and we can offer specific advice for your circumstances.

We’re really grateful that Weightmans have partnered with us,” says Clark. “The Public Sector Equality Duty is a great tool, and this note will help councils use it to create better facilities for teenage girls.

The note can be found here:

makespaceforgirls.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/QA-on-the-PSED.pdf

ENDS

For more information or high-res images, please contact:

susannah@makespaceforgirls.co.uk

Make Space for Girls is a charity which campaigns for parks and public spaces to be designed with teenage girls in mind. Currently most provision for teenagers – skate parks and fenced pitches – is dominated by boys, and girls are designed out of the public realm. This discrimination affects girls’ physical and mental health, it’s unfair and tells them that they belong at home. We’re working with councils, developers and public bodies to create better, more equal places which include everyone.

Weightmans is a top 45 law firm with over 1,300 people across offices in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leicester, Newcastle and London. Weightmans is dedicated to providing results for its clients and success for its people.

Press release distributed by Pressat on behalf of Make Space for Girls, on Thursday 9 June, 2022. For more information subscribe and follow https://pressat.co.uk/

Brazilian Soccer Player Deni Cresto Makes The Most Of His Time In The USL League 2

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Brazilian Soccer Player Deni Cresto Makes The Most Of His Time In The USL League 2

Deni Cresto playing for USL League 2 Lone Star Division Leader Corpus Christi FC

Brazilian Soccer talent Deni Cresto is equally as passionate on and off the field

Brazilian Soccer talent Deni Cresto is equally as passionate on and off the field

Deni Cresto playing for Corpus Christi FC in the USL League 2 2022 Regular Season

Deni Cresto playing for Corpus Christi FC in the USL League 2 2022 Regular Season

Who is Brazilian Soccer Player Deni Cresto? He is a passionate player with a drive to succeed and win on every possible level in sport and in life.

I care for these players”
— Deni Cresto

CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS, USA, June 9, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — Passion. If there is one single word that can describe Brazilian footballer Deni Cresto it would “Passion.” Cresto loves the game, the players and the sport. Ask those who know him and they would describe him as perhaps the most valued asset to a team. Deni Cresto is not only an amazing talent, but an amazing person both on and off the pitch.He comes from the west coast of Brazil. His love for the game began early learning the ropes playing Futsal, a game similar to soccer except played indoors. From there he grew into turf and eventually earned a spot playing in Europe. That passion and love for the game ended him up playing in the United States at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas under Head Coach Johnny Clifford. Deni now plays in the USL League 2 for Corpus Christi FC. Because of his leadership and athleticism he has been named team Captain. Deni Cresto is worlds apart from average–Deni is exceptional.

His hard work both on and off the pitch shows. Cresto, 27, takes his leadership role seriously.

“I care for these players,” he says. “I care for them not only as players but as people.”

Ask around his teammates for Corpus Christi FC and you quickly learn that he is the heart and soul of what keeps this machine operating as one unit and has led them to a first place spot in the USL League 2 Lone Star Division just half way through the 2022 season. Cresto is a true man amongst men.

“I have two ‘Plan A’ ideas,” he says. “I want to ultimately get a professional contract and perhaps play in the Canadian Premier League or something. If I cannot do that then I want to go into coaching.”

Deni Cresto remains diversified and ready to jump at the opportunity to lead either on or off the field. He well understands that being 27 years-old this could be one of his last chances to make a run for the fully-professional leagues. The USL League 2 and playing here for Corpus Christi FC gives him the opportunity to possibly achieve just that.

The hours of hard work and dedication are tough. Deni doesn’t shy away from it in the least. On the pitch you not only see him exhibit his athletic ability, but his leadership, as well. Fighting physically and emotionally until the last whistle blows is what he does. Never giving up and certainly never letting those around cave to the pressures of a hard fought match.

Watching Deni is a pleasure. Mature, agile, thoughtful, and very deliberate in everything that he does shows. He looks after his teammates as a sort of father figure and ensures that their needs are met on and off the pitch. An encouraging word or pat on the back, a quiet inspiring thought or a motivational glance of encouragement is one thing Cresto is always good for. A role model in every sort of way imaginable.

The passion and love for the game and his teammates shows in that fire deep within his eyes. It breathes in each and every breath. Deni Cresto is more than a talent–he is an exceptional talent that is the perfect asset to any organization.

“I work hard,” he says. “I want to win and I want us to win as a team.”

Saint Mary’s Rattlers Head Coach Johnny Clifford helped teach him that.

“He is a mentor,” Deni says. “I loved playing for him and we are both very alike and heading in the same direction.”

Cresto believes that relationship with Johnny Clifford has helped mold him into the truly well-rounded athlete that he is today.

When Deni Cresto says that he wants to win you had better well believe it. But he wants to win the right way.

There isn’t any doubt that Deni Cresto is on the path towards great things–in professional soccer and in life itself. How do you define the word “passionate” in a man? Deni Cresto. Simple as that.

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Tunisia: TV interview explores constructive role of religion in society | BWNS

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Tunisia: TV interview explores constructive role of religion in society | BWNS

TUNIS, Tunisia — In a recent episode of a national TV show in Tunisia, a representative of the Bahá’ís of that country sat down for a discussion on the role of religion in society, a topic of growing interest in public consciousness. Named “For the record,” the weekly show aims to document stories of significance to shaping an inclusive national identity.

Slideshow
5 images
Burhan B’saees, the host of the show, and Mohamed Ben Moussa, of the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs, explored insights from historic and ongoing efforts of the Tunisian Bahá’í community that have enabled people to unite and create bonds of trust and cooperation.

Burhan B’saees, the host of the program, began by asking about religion’s ability to address contemporary challenges, such as climate change and the many forms of social disparities. Mohamed Ben Moussa, of the Bahá’í Office of External Affairs of Tunisia, responded stating that “at the heart of these challenges is a crisis of values and the fragmentation of society into believer and nonbeliever, women and men, rich and poor, scholar and uneducated.

“This can prevent many segments of society from fully participating in public life or contributing to solutions. Such divisions hold humanity back from reaching full maturity and addressing its challenges.”

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The interview highlighted Bahá’í community-building efforts that promote the equality of women and men at the grassroots, such as discussion spaces that allow women to fully participate in consultative and decision-making processes.

During the one hour and twenty minute conversation, Mr. B’saees and Mr. Ben Moussa explored insights from the historic and ongoing efforts of the Tunisian Bahá’í community that have enabled people to unite and create bonds of trust and cooperation.

One of the examples noted in the conversation was that by participating in the discourses on coexistence and the equality of women and men, Tunisian Bahá’ís have fostered new notions of citizenship based on justice and the essential oneness of humanity.

The interview also highlighted Bahá’í community-building efforts that promote the equality of women and men at the grassroots, such as discussion spaces that allow women to fully participate in consultative and decision-making processes.

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5 images
As part of its ongoing efforts to create bonds of trust and cooperation in its society, the Tunisian Bahá’í community contributes to societal discourses, including equality between women and men, social justice, and coexistence.

Mr. Ben Moussa explained that the efforts of the Bahá’í community of Tunisia—established in that country a hundred years ago—have been open to all people and have revolved around the application of the spiritual principle of the oneness of humanity. “This principle requires conviction in the equality of women and men and the elimination of all forms of prejudice, the harmony of science and religion, the recognition of justice as a prerequisite for unity, and selfless service to one’s fellow citizens.”

The complete interview in Arabic can be viewed in two parts, part 1 and part 2, in which Mr. Ben Moussa highlights religion’s power to contribute to the material and spiritual advancement of civilization.

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This
short film

explores the Tunisian Bahá’í community’s contributions to greater coexistence in that country over the last 100 years.

European National Councils of Churches discuss CEC’s work and its Assembly

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European National Councils of Churches discuss CEC’s work and its Assembly

In a virtual meeting on 8 June, heads of the European National Councils of Churches met with CEC General Secretary Dr Jørgen Skov Sørensen and CEC Executive Secretary Katerina Pekridou, engaging with CEC’s developing profile, and its upcoming Assembly in Tallinn

The topics were discussed through the lens of public theology, reflected in the theme of CEC Assembly “Under God’s blessing – shaping the future”.

The Assembly will take place from 14 to 20 June 2023.

New directions in CEC’s work, as well as its Assembly, are centred around the role of ecumenical theology, transcending private, national, and confessional borders, and the significant contribution from churches to the public conversation and action for the common good.

The general secretaries of the European NCCs also shared about their ongoing work.

The virtual meeting was held ahead of a physical meeting of the NCCs, planned in autumn, where NCCs will be invited to contribute in shaping the programme of CEC Assembly.