SIDE BY SIDE: Msgr Mark Langham of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity examines the ecumenical issues at stake during Pope Benedict's visit to the UK...
BACK TO SCHOOL: The head of the Catholic Education Service for England and Wales talks about the Pope's planned meeting with thousands of school children....

From an invisible life begging on the streets of Calcutta, cripples and lepers in India are transforming themselves into visionary entrepreneurs and impacting those around them. Thousands of differently-abled people in India are now leading fulfilling and autonomous lives thanks to a Ghandian inspired project called the “Trace and Treat Campaign.

Professor of Anthropology at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, Jao Coelho has been investigating the success of the project in Anandwan in the Indian State of Maharashtra. There, in satellite communities across the State, more than 5,000 lepers, cripples, blind, or mentally challenged people have been empowered by pioneering projects in agriculture, fish farming, education, industrial production, and environmental protection. Many of those involved in the project are deaf.

Prof. Coelho says the Deaf offer a unique contribution to the community because they can be the eyes and helping hands for those less fortunate.

“The deaf are a gift of God to the community and the planet. The deaf are potential leaders, born leaders. The able- bodied society has to create space and opportunities for them to contribute in the planet-making, world-reshaping, community remaking projects. There’s a strong responsibility on the able-bodied society not to keep them out of the main centers of the planet. They have to be included so that they enrich (society) with the gifts God has given them in building a community of all brothers and sisters living together in harmony – so there is a challenge for able-bodied society to include them as early as possible.”

RV: In the developed world, the differently-abled lament they are often stigmatized and ostracized in their communities. How are their physical differences perceived in India?

“Stigma is a very strong weapon in Indian society. We have this caste system which is already stigmatizing people as born in a better circle or a weaker circle. Then, these illnesses like deafness, blindness are also a big stigma. And, if people know there is some deaf person, then the family is stigmatized, not only the person. A family will have difficulties in say, getting brides and grooms for the other siblings if there is a deaf person. Because they feel that the deafness may be in the family and it could be coming to the offspring...This family would be restricted in its choices: economic, education, profession and social circles.”
listen to the full program:

POPE ON UK VISIT: Pope Benedict says how much he is looking forward to his visit to Britain next week and how it will be a particular joy for him to beatify Cardinal Newman......
ELDERLY EMPHASIS: We speak to the manager and one of the occupants of a London residential home for old people that will be visited by Pope Benedict during his visit to Britain this month.....
RAPHAEL'S MASTERPIECES REUNITED: For the first time ever, four Raphael tapestries from the Vatican Museums are reunited with their original cartoons at a special exhibition in London and we talk to the curator about this event....

STRAW SANDALS TO STOP DEATH PENALTY – Tairyu Furukawa, a Buddhist monk and former prison chaplain vowed never to take off his straw sandals until he’d walked to the ends of the earth to bring an end to the death penalty in Japan
LIFE CHANGES – From an invisible life begging on the streets of Calcutta, cripples and lepers in India are transforming into visionary entrepreneurs and impacting those around them. Thousands of differently-abled people in India are now leading fulfilling and autonomous lives thanks to a Ghandian inspired project called the “Trace and Treat Campaign...”

CELEBRATING LEO XIII - Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Pope Leo XIIth…
A PRECARIOUS SITUATION - South African miners join public sector employees in an almost month-long strike which is putting the nation in a very precarious situation…
SEMANA POR LA PAZ - Peace week in Colombia shines the light on a forgotten conflict that has been killing, maiming and displacing millions of people for over 45 years…

Today begins “Peace Week” in Colombia. It was launched back in 1987 by Colombia’s Bishops’ Conference to raise awareness and boost commitment to finding a peaceful solution to Colombia’s 45 year-conflict. It’s a largely forgotten internal war during which millions of people have fled their homes, been killed or maimed. And as Monsignor Henao, secretary general of Caritas Colombia points out, although the nation shares the tragic situations of other countries such as the mass displacement in Congo, the devastation of landmines suffered in some Asian countries and the insecurity of Haiti, there is very little awareness about the seriousness of the Colombian situation. And this, he says, makes the already suffering people feel abandoned and isolated from the rest of the world.
To find out more, Linda Bordoni spoke to Caritas Norway’s Kirsten Natvig, who is responsible for the Latin American programme…

CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVES: The editor of a Catholic magazine and weekly paper discusses the challenges ahead in covering the papal visit to Britain....
FINDING SANCTUARY: The former Abbot of Worth Abbey explains how to draw on monastic wisdom to find sanctuary in our hectic daily lives....
RENAISSANCE MASTERPIECES: Tapestries designed by Raphael go on display at the V&A next to the original cartoons....

fThe former Abbot of Worth Abbey explains how to draw on monastic wisdom to find sanctuary in our hectic daily lives.....

The editor of Justice Magazine and the Catholic weekly paper The Universe talks about the challenges ahead in reporting on Pope Benedict's state visit to Britain.....

Father Jim Brand explains why it is important to really look beyond our personal concerns and see reality...