"We women want to see genuine change in our Church. We want to contribute and have our say. We want women and men, on equal footing, to follow their calling in harmony and move forward in the same direction: that of Jesus Christ, who asked us all to bring his message of love to the world," the parishioners say.

They want women in the German Catholic church "not to step foot in a church" to wear white, and to stop "all voluntary service" from 11 to 18 May.

"We will celebrate Mass outside, in front of the church," they say in their campaign.

The idea of striking began during a monthly meeting focusing on the papal encyclical Laudato si'.

"We were dejected by the revelations of sexual assault committed by priests and by the persistent exclusion of women, which is one source of the problem,"Elisabeth Kötter says.

They - along with other women - decided to go on strike.

Their campaign is called "Maria 2.0," and its logo is an image of a woman with her mouth taped shut.

"We wanted to give some direction to the increasing and longstanding unease that we've all felt," Ruth Koch says.

Thanks to social media, the call quickly spread across the diocese. Around fifty visitors left messages of support on the women's Facebook page:

"Finally! A practical campaign, we've waited a long time for this!" "Let's not keep quiet anymore, this is urgent."

Among the supporters were both women and men of all ages.

The Catholic Women's Association of Germany (KFD) has guaranteed its support.

Organisers confirm Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck and his vicar general, Father Klaus Pfeffer, are following the Facebook page.

"The call is also aimed at all those who have suffered at the hands of the Church and have left," Kötter says.

The organisers have written to Pope Francis. They gave the letter to Cardinal Reinhard Marx to pass on to the pope at the summit on sexual abuse last month.

The women want a change in the sexual moral code that is in keeping "with the reality of human life," for the lifting of mandatory celibacy for priests and for women's access to all ministries.

Source

• La Croix
• Image: La Croix

The People's Supreme Court upheld the jail term of 30 months for lawyer and dissident Joseph Le Quoc Quan for charges of tax evasion.

His firm was also fined 1.29 billion dong (approximately US $61,000), local sources said.

Church sources stated that only Quan's mother and wife were allowed to be at the four-hour appeal trial, while hundreds of Quan supporters stood outside in the cold and rain.

Supporters had attended a special Mass at Redemptorist-run Thai Ha Church and then marched to the court.

Security officials prevented people from entering the court by erecting barriers on streets leading to it. Police also took photos and video of supporters.

Quan started his hunger strike on February 2 to demand jail authorities give him access to religious books and to a priest for Confession and Communion.

His hunger strike is also a way to protest against the legal process.

The blogger and human rights lawyer is well-known for taking part in pro-democracy activities and giving legal support to Catholics petitioning the government to return church properties.

Quan's firm also provided legal aid to factory workers and poor people.

The United States said it was "deeply concerned" by the decision to uphold the conviction, which it called inconsistent with Vietnam's international commitments to freedom of expression.

"The use of tax laws by Vietnamese authorities to imprison government critics for peacefully expressing their political views is disturbing," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.

Quan's arrest in 2012 came nine days after the BBC published his article criticising the Vietnamese constitution.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• South China Morning Post
• Image: South China Morning Post

Sir Graeme Harrison, founder and chairman of ANZCO, recently received a Welly award in the business section. The Wellingtonian of the Year Awards, (Welly Awards) are described as "a celebration of the many great individuals across all sectors of the community who make our region such an exciting and vibrant place in which to live and work."

ANZCO is a private "New Zealand" company jointly owned by two Japanese companies: Itoham Food Inc and Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd, and the directors and management of ANZCO Foods Ltd. Each shareholder group individually owns more than 25% of the company.

ANZCO has an annual sales of over $NZ1 billion and employs 2,500 people on 10 production sites in New Zealand and a network of sales and marketing offices in Japan, Taiwan, North America, United Kingdom, Belgium and New Zealand. It is the primary supplier of burger patties for McDonald's outlets across the country.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• Wanganui Cronicle
• New Zealand Leadership Pathway
• Image: Brady Dyer

Seven others were critically wounded when officers tried to stop striking workers from going into a facility at the mining complex on Monday.

About 8,000 workers have been on strike for almost a month at the US-owned Freeport McMoran copper and gold mine.

Human rights activists and workers say it's time the Indonesian Government intervened, to help negotiate a peaceful outcome.

In June 2011 The Alliance of Churches in the Land of Papua, PGGP, called on the government to revise the work contract concluded with the mining company, Freeport.

‘The presence of this foreign company in the district of Mimika has not resulted in any improvements in the conditions of the local people,' said Wiem Maury, secretary of the PGGP. He said that in addition to this, the very presence of Freeport in the area has always been a very serious problem for the people.

‘The welfare of the people who are the true owners of the rich natural resource continue to be a matter of great concern. Nor is there any guarantee about security in the area either,' he added..

Source

• Radio Australia
• West Papua Media Alerts
• Image: metalnewstream.com

It was reported yesterday that unions representing Spanish airport ground crew had called strikes to coincide with Pope Benedict XVI's four-day visit to the Spanish capital next week for WYD2011.

Three unions representing 60,000 check-in staff, baggage handlers and other ground workers - CCOO, UGT and USO - said they planned 24-hour strikes for August 18, the day the pope is set to arrive in Madrid, and again on August 26.

However members of the General Workers Union employed by Madrid's Metro subway system are still intending to strike over salary negotiations and cuts to their wages as part of government austerity measures.

The Union leaders told Europa Press they had been forced to take the action due to the "failure to implement salary raises agreed to in a collective agreement for 2011 and the breakdown of collective bargaining."

A spokesman for Madrid Metro, Ignacio Gonzalez Velayos, however promised the subways would operate "normally" during Benedict's visit.

"The Community of Madrid will ensure a minimum of transportation services are available during those days, and of course all those who come to visit the Pope are going to have public transportation and the Metro will be operating completely as normal," he said.

More than one million faithful are expected to flock to the Spanish capital for the Roman Catholic Church's youth festivities.

Sources

• CNA
• The Telegraph
• Expatica
• Image: PHLOG