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Day: June 15, 2024
By Jonah McKeown
Al Kresta, a longtime Catholic radio host, author, and founder and president of;Ave Maria Radio,;died Saturday at his Michigan home after a battle with liver cancer. He was 73.;
A former Evangelical Protestant who rose to prominence as a radio host before his conversion to Catholicism in 1992, Kresta’s voice was heard on hundreds of radio stations daily, including EWTN Catholic Radio, via Ave Maria’s flagship program, “Kresta in the Afternoon.”;
According to a webpage set up by Kresta’s family to provide updates, Kresta was admitted to the University of Michigan Hospital on April 29 “after a month of tests,” which culminated in a liver cancer diagnosis on May 3.;
Born in 1951 in New England and raised Catholic, Kresta’s road back to the faith of his baptism was winding. Despite his upbringing, he described himself as a “stereotypical 1960s kid” who as a young man leaned into the worldly desires of “drugs, sex, and rock n’ roll.” The Catholic Church “didn’t hold much appeal to me,” he told EWTN’s “The Journey Home” in 2004.
“I was a musician and I wanted to pursue my music and a hedonistic, self-centered lifestyle,” he told the;National Catholic Register;in a 2000 interview.;
“In 1969 I left home and became homeless by choice. I lived on the street, slept in vacant apartments, stayed on the beach in the Florida Keys and bummed off of friends. After some hallucinogenic LSD experiences, I hitchhiked along the eastern seaboard looking for someone who could help me make sense of my hallucinations. I ended up in a New Age group.”
Later, though, through “a series of remarkable, providential occurrences,” Kresta said he became convinced that the New Age movement’s depiction of Jesus as a hippy guru was not correct. In 1974, as a student at Michigan State University, he embraced Evangelical Protestantism, in large part thanks to the writings of C.S. Lewis. He leaned into his newfound faith, eventually opening a Christian bookstore and even pastoring a nondenominational church for five years.;
As a pastor, Kresta said he was sometimes tripped up by the fact that there were authoritative questions he had to answer about the Christian faith, and that he realized that “the Bible alone couldn’t settle these matters.”
“I had no authority,” he admitted in a later, 2007;“Journey Home”interview.
In the early 1990s, Kresta hosted a Catholic priest on his Evangelical-focused radio program as part of an episode dedicated to “Catholic answers to Catholic questions.” Kresta said he was so moved by the priest’s answers that it hit him like a ton of bricks: “My God, I’m a Catholic.” In 1992, he repented and returned to his Catholic faith; his entire family converted at the same time.
Kresta would later say that the “intellectual integrity of the Catholic faith is unlike anything in Protestantism.”
“The Catholic faith has never disappointed me when it comes to my use of reason or intellectual coherence,” he said.;
Colleagues remember Kresta as ‘deeply thoughtful’ and ‘courageous’
EWTN President and Chief Operating Officer Doug Keck on Saturday said that Kresta’s passing was “a titanic loss not only for EWTN and Ave Maria Catholic Radio but for the entire Church.”;
“As his show intro said, he always had the Bible in one hand and a copy of the New York Times in another,” Keck said.;
“He was fearless in his willingness to take on tough issues both inside and outside the Church!” he continued. “But always with a wisdom-driven, balanced approach designed to meet the listeners where they are but never leave them there,”;
“He was an inspiring figure who overcame incredible physical roadblocks to serve his God, his family and his Church.”
World leaders convened Saturday at the global peace summit at the luxury Burgenstock resort overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, in a show of support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace plan and to apply pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
More than 90 countries will participate, but China’s absence is notable. Russia is excluded from the conference.
Zelenskyy expressed hopes for a “just peace” in Ukraine.
“I believe that we will witness history being made here at the summit. May a just peace be established as soon as possible,” Zelenskyy said as the event began.
The Ukrainian president has touted the summit’s wide attendance as a success. “Ukraine never wanted this war. It’s a criminal and absolutely unprovoked aggression by Russia,” he said at a press conference alongside Swiss President Viola Amherd, who said the conflict had brought “unimaginable suffering” and violated international law.
Zelenskyy said he hopes that declarations stemming from the talks during the summit would shape the peacemaking process. But China’s reluctance to participate has subdued expectations that Russia will be isolated on the international stage.
The talks are expected to center on broader concerns triggered by the war, such as food and nuclear security, and a draft resolution that would identify Russia as the aggressor in its war on Ukraine, sources said.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is stepping in for U.S. President Joe Biden at the summit. Biden is returning to the U.S. from the G7 summit in Italy and will be attending a fundraising event for his reelection campaign in Los Angeles.
During a bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy, Harris pledged America’s unwavering support for Ukraine and announced more than $1.5 billion in aid for Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and its humanitarian needs after Russia’s 27-month invasion.
“This war remains an utter failure for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” Harris said. “It is in our interest to uphold international norms.”
The $1.5 billion pledge includes $500 million in new funding for energy resources and the redirecting of $324 million in previously announced funds toward emergency energy infrastructure repairs and other needs in Ukraine, the vice president’s office said.
“These efforts will help Ukraine respond to Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine energy infrastructure by supporting repair and recovery, improving Ukraine’s resilience to energy supply disruptions, and laying the groundwork to repair and expand Ukraine’s energy system,” Harris’ office said.
The vice president also announced more than $379 million in humanitarian assistance from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to help refugees and other people affected by the war.
At the G7 summit, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday slammed as “propaganda” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demand for Ukraine’s capitulation before any peace talks.
“It doesn’t seem particularly effective to me as a negotiation proposal to tell Ukraine that it must withdraw from Ukraine,” she said at the end of a G7 summit in Italy, and as an international conference on ending the conflict opened in Switzerland.
“Let’s say it seems more like a propaganda initiative … to create a narrative that wants to provide counter-information on where the responsibilities for the conflict lie,” she said.
The United States, Ukraine and NATO dismissed conditions for a Ukraine cease-fire set Friday by Putin, who said he would halt his offensive in Ukraine provided Kyiv withdraws from territories claimed by Moscow and abandons its bid to join NATO.
“Putin has occupied, illegally occupied, sovereign Ukrainian territory. He is not in any position to dictate to Ukraine what they must do to bring about peace,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said at the end of a NATO meeting in Brussels Friday.
“He could end this today, if he chose to do that, and we call upon him to do that, and to leave Ukrainian sovereign territory.”
Zelenskyy said Putin’s cease-fire offer is an ultimatum that cannot be trusted.
Speaking to Italy’s SkyTG24 news channel on the sidelines of the G7 summit, Zelenskyy said he didn’t think Putin would stop his military advances even if his cease-fire demands were met.
NATO defense ministers approved a new plan Friday for reliable long-term security aid and military training for Ukraine.
Ukraine also signed a bilateral 10-year security agreement with the U.S. on the sidelines of the G7 meeting. Russian officials, including Putin, denounced the agreement as “null and void.”
Meanwhile, the war continued in Ukraine, where at least three civilians were killed by shelling that wounded 15 others late Friday and overnight into Saturday, according to regional officials.
The governor of Russia’s southern Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said in a social media post Saturday that Ukraine was behind shelling Friday that killed five people in a five-story apartment building in the town of Shebekino. Kyiv has not commented on strike.
By Yossi Mekelberg
For war Cabinet ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot it was a matter of when, not if, they would quit Israel’s so-called unity government, and in doing so withdraw the support of 12 National Party members of the Knesset for the ruling coalition. There must be questions asked about the logic of their participation in the government in the first place, and certainly about their decision not to leave months ago when it became clear that Israel was sinking deeper into the quagmire of Gaza, failing to give the release of the hostages top priority, and becoming increasingly internationally isolated, while around the corner a full-scale war with Hezbollah was looming. Gantz and Eisenkot might have believed that they were acting as a counterbalance to the extreme right wing in government, but in fact, as time passed, all that they were doing was propping up the most disastrous leadership in Israel’s history.
Gantz’s “dramatic” announcement was delayed by 24 hours as a result of the operation last Saturday to release four Israeli hostages, but this did not dissuade him from the view that his eight-month partnership with Benjamin Netanyahu had run its course. Since Gantz sent his ultimatum to Netanyahu, it was obvious from the outset that his five demands would not be met, and the clock for the end of this partnership was ticking loudly. In truth, Gantz and his political colleagues were always looking to the exit door, and rightly so, but it does not lessen the deep concern that Israel is once again, as it was until last October, governed by the most far-right, incompetent, and irresponsible government since its founding, while it faces the most profound domestic and international crisis in its history.
The question on everyone’s lips is whether the departure of the National Unity party will bring the country one step closer to the end of the Netanyahu government and lead to a general election resulting in the long overdue end of the Netanyahu era. On the one hand the coalition must now rely on a much narrower support base of 64 members of the Knesset, a majority of only four, but they are in this sinking ship together, fully aware that they are highly unlikely to hold the reins of power after the next election, and that at the same time many of them will also lose their seats in the Israeli parliament. This might encourage them to prolong the life of this government for a little bit longer.
By all accounts, Sunday’s resignation was very much a delayed response and should have occurred earlier in the year, when Israel’s military had lost its momentum and most of the reserve units were discharged, which in turn hardened Hamas’ position on releasing the hostages, and led them to demand a full and permanent ceasefire, which has its own logic. At that stage Netanyahu was acting as if he were ready to agree to a truce, but he stepped back from this for fear of losing the support of the far-right elements in his coalition, and in the knowledge that ending the war would be followed by an investigation into the colossal security failure of Oct. 7 for which most would hold him personally responsible. So he began stalling the negotiations, but the longer this continued, Hamas, in this case the Gaza branch led by Yahya Sinwar, increasingly felt itself, rightly or wrongly, in the ascendency and able to dictate the outcome of the negotiations.;
Partnership with the dangerous and delusional messianic far right was something that Netanyahu was not keen on to begin with, knowing their dangerous ideology and warmongering inclinations, not to mention their detachment from reality. However, in light of the other parties’ justified refusal to share power with a man being tried on corruption charges and hellbent on destroying the independence of the judiciary in order to avoid a potential jail sentence, he had a choice: Show integrity and relinquish power, or form a coalition with the most extreme elements in Israeli society. And, guess what, he preferred the latter. The events on and since Oct. 7 have exposed the inability of such a government to defend its citizens from external threats and conduct a war with any long-term strategy in mind. Gantz in his resignation speech amplified what Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, said several weeks ago — that the Israeli leader has deliberately avoided any “day after” plan in order to serve his own political and personal interests. This is an intolerable situation that is creating immense misery and costing the lives of many thousands of people.
The cynical nature of the slimmed-down coalition was revealed less than 24 hours after the National Unity party departed during a vote on drafting ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students for military service. Shamelessly, the very coalition government that is pushing an agenda of never-ending wars — and some of whose members would like to reoccupy Gaza and build settlements there, not to mention engage in a full-scale war with Hezbollah — supported a bill that continued the unfair and immoral arrangement that ultra-Orthodox youth are not obliged to serve in the military. There is hardly anything that irks those who serve in the security forces more than the fact that parliamentarians who are asking them to risk their lives on the battlefield are happy to do so when it is someone else’s daughter or son and not their own.
A bigger test for this government will come when supporting a ceasefire deal with Hamas becomes a genuine option. The leaders of the far right are behaving in an increasingly vile manner toward families of the hostages for demanding a deal that would see their loved ones returned, and are threatening to leave the coalition if such an agreement is reached. But, then, such a deal is likely to be supported by several opposition parties even without the Ben Gvirs and Smotritches of this coalition, who are strong in neither the empathy or strategy departments, and will then have to decide whether to stay in government.
Gantz’s resignation has not instantly brought the government down, but has sown the seeds for its fall. Netanyahu’s coalition is on life support, and ordinary Israelis are continuing to demonstrate their lack of confidence in it, whether in opinion polls or on the streets. At some point it is either bottom-up pressure from the people that will bring the government down, or pressure from the international community that will do the same — but it is more likely to be a combination of the two. However, when the era of Netanyahu and his cabal of far-right extremists comes to a close, it will be a case of good riddance.
•;Yossi Mekelberg is a professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the Middle East and North Africa Program at international affairs think tank Chatham House.
By Ghadi Joudah and Mohammed Al-Kinani
Amid strict security and health measures, this year’s Hajj pilgrims arrived in Arafat early Saturday morning, the ninth day of Dul Hijjah, and attended the annual Hajj sermon at Namirah Mosque.
As the sun rose, pilgrims camping in the tent city of Mina performed dawn prayers, then began their journey to Arafat, where Prophet Muhammad gave his final sermon more than 144 decades ago. On Saturday, one could hear nothing louder than the crowd chanting supplications.
Ansarul-Haq Rasheed, a 63-year-old Indonesian pilgrim, expressed a heartfelt desire to pray to Allah for as long as possible.
“I wish time could pause so I could continue praying to Allah with all my heart,” he told Arab News. “These moments are unforgettable. I want to lay bare all my emotions to my creator, who knows everything. I seek His blessings for my needs in this life and the hereafter.”
Reflecting on the pilgrimage experience, he expressed gratitude for the services provided to pilgrims. He compared it with stories he had been told of his late father’s Hajj, some 45 years ago. “My mother shared the hardships my father faced during Hajj; I wish he could see how much more comfortable Hajj has become,” Rasheed said.;
Meanwhile, 49-year-old Khadija Yakoubi, a Moroccan pilgrim, anticipated a transformative experience from his pilgrimage.
“When all sins are forgiven, life inevitably changes for the better, leading to a renewed enjoyment. This feeling motivates pilgrims to continue doing good throughout their lives,” Yakoubi said, adding that the services pilgrims have received at the holy sites have been “exemplary.”
The Day of Arafat is the most important part of the Hajj —;one of Islam’s five pillars; without it, a pilgrimage is not valid. Pilgrims typically combine and shorten the Dhuhr and Asr prayers before staying in Arafat until sunset. They then move on to Muzdalifah before returning to their tents in Mina.
Sheikh Maher bin Hamad Al-Muaiqly, one of the imams of the Grand Mosque, who delivered this year’s sermon, described Hajj as a “sincere act of worship for Allah.”
He urged pilgrims to seize “the great blessings” during their time in Arafat, reminding them that “in this honorable place and virtuous time, the Almighty multiplies his rewards” for their good deeds and forgives their sins.
In his sermon, Al-Muaiqly emphasized that Islam is a religion of peace and that Shariah “mandates justice, noble ethics, and kindness to parents, along with the importance of maintaining family ties, truthfulness in speech, and safeguarding rights to ensure they are rightfully upheld. It also emphasizes respect for contracts and encourages obedience to rightful authorities.”
He added that Shariah also emphasizes the obligation to obey the five central religious laws: safeguarding religion, and protecting the soul, the mind, one’s possessions, and one’s dignity — all important principles in Islamic jurisprudence and ethics, and, he said, guiding principles for the well-being and growth of individuals and society.
“Indeed, Shariah considers any transgression against these basics a crime deserving punishment. Furthermore, safeguarding these essentials is a path to entering paradise and attaining Allah’s satisfaction. It also serves as a key to stability, happiness, progress, and advancement in this world,” the imam said.
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