RAPISTS APOLOGY

October 31, 2005

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Rape victim’s final insult
From:
By Viva Goldner

October 29, 2005

ONE of four brothers convicted of a spate of brutal gang rapes yesterday confessed before telling one of his victims: “It is stupid to sit there and cry for the rest of your life.”
The Pakistani-born 25-year-old apologised to one of his young victims, known as T, who looked on from the gallery with contempt as he grovelled for forgiveness.

For three years, the brothers denied the attacks - branding their four victims liars and appealing against their convictions all the way to the High Court.

Yesterday’s belated apology came at a sentence hearing for the rapist known as MAK and his brothers MSK, 26, and MMK, 19, who were convicted this year of sex offences against two girls, aged 14 and 13, in 2002.

MAK, MSK, MMK and a fourth brother, MRK, 20, are already serving jail terms of between 11 and 22 years for raping two other teenagers at knife-point.

MAK claimed he had only recently realised his “mistakes” through discussion with a psychologist.

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“Do you now accept that even if you perceive a woman is being flirtatious to you that doesn’t mean she will have sexual intercourse with you?” MAK’s lawyer Stephen Handley said.

MAK agreed, denying his admission was a ploy for “benefit on sentence”, as Crown Prosecutor Ken McKay said.

“I am sorry for what happened and my father told me once … about these Australian people that anyone who make mistake, such a forgiving community and such forgiving people, that they will accept your apology,” MAK said.

“I don’t know if my father is wrong.”

T yesterday dismissed as “pathetic” the last-ditch confession by MAK, who even declared his young victim had a “big life ahead of her”.

“It is stupid to sit there and cry for the rest of your life,” he said to T.

Outside court, T said: “It wasn’t heartfelt. It was all an act.

“I thought it was pathetic that he was sitting there telling me he was a broken man. I’m a broken woman.”

The courageous 18-year-old read her victim impact statement aloud, facing her attackers as they sat together, taking notes in the dock. She spoke of depression, bulimia and self-harm, all arising from her ordeal.

Her strength through months of harrowing trials was drawn from a desire to reach out to other victims.

“People’s perceptions of rape victims is that they should be a complete mess … When I was around other people, I didn’t want them to know that I was hurting and I didn’t want them to think that I was a weak person.”

In 2003, MAK was found guilty of a further nine counts of aggravated sexual assault against two best friends aged 16 and 17, but until yesterday denied those rapes.

The victims were befriended by the youngest brother, then driven to an Ashfield home and plied with alcohol before being subjected to assaults.

The brothers will be sentenced on a date to be fixed.

ATENEAN needs our help FOR KIDNEY TRANSPLANT

Help Needed for Mike Asis

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Dear Friend,

Greetings of the Lord’s peace!

We are writing this letter on behalf of our friend and colleague, Dr. Michael Demetrius Asis, more commonly known to all as “Mike” (Coll 85, MA 96, PhD 2003). Mike at 40 is husband to Tintin and father of 3-year old Miguel. He has been with the Ateneo de Manila since 1987, teaching now for 18 years with the Theology Department of the School of Humanities.

Unfortunately, Mike needs a kidney transplant. He has been diabetic for many years, and this has affected both his heart and his kidneys. Last February 2004, Mike underwent a triple bypass operation for his heart due to clogged arteries as a complication of his diabetes. Now the diabetes has damaged his kidneys. He has begun dialysis as the Uremic symptoms like shortness of breath, easy fatigability, drowsiness, muscle cramps and itching, have started to show. The dialysis will continue until he finds a donor and the money to undergo the kidney transplant.

The breakdown of estimated costs for the transplant and related expenses are as follows:

1. Php 150 thousand for the operation to remove the kidney from the donor
2. Php 500 thousand to transplant the kidney to Mike
3. Php 70 thousand for testing each potential donor to determine compatibility / matching
4. Php 2 thousand per day for the post-operation anti-rejection drugs
5. Php 1,700 for each dialysis session (three times a week) while waiting for the transplant

As a teacher, Mike’s salary cannot cover these expenses. It Is for this reason that we appeal to you in your generosity to give what You can to help Mike. We hope, especially, that those of you who have been touched in one way or another by Mike’s warmth and graciousness in his work and ministries can respond now with an open heart in his time of need so that he can continue to touch other people’s lives.

If you would like to make a donation, you can deposit the Money to BPI savings account number 3085-5090-54 (pay to Michael Demetrius H. Asis). So we can acknowledge your donation, please email your name and the amount either to mikeasisfund@yahoo.com.ph. Or you can text Pia Nazareno-Acevedo at 0917-5381482 or text Mike at 0917-531-0822 and/or Tintin at 0917-535-1761.

We will be posting bulletins regarding Mike’s condition from time to time.

Thank you very much for your kind consideration.

Sincerely yours,
In our Lord,
Friends of Mike Asis

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NOVEMBER 18, 2005 UP LAW HOMECOMING AT THE FORT

UP Law Celebrates Grand Alumni Homecoming 2005

The University of the Philippines College of Law gears up in celebration of their annual Grand Alumni Homecoming Night to be held on November 18, 2005, 6 p.m. at the NBC Tent in Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

Hosted by the UP Law ‘80 Foundation, this year’s silver jubilarians, for the UP Law Alumni Association, the much-anticipated event with the theme “A Celebration of Life and Friendship”, gathers together the distinguished members of the different batches into one momentous and memorable evening of reminiscing their camaraderie and fellowship.

Spearheaded by the UP Law ‘80 Foundation Inc., President, Atty. Raoul Angangco, this year’s Grand Alumni Homecoming promises to be a gathering of the best and the most prominent legal eagles of our times. Buffet dinner will be served with no corkage fees. Free beer and softdrinks will be sponsored by Asia Brewery, with live entertainment provided by the Sabor Latino Band.

For ticket inquiries, please call Ms. Dang Teves at 8189836, Ms. Helen Bengil at 8972136, or the assigned Class Representatives.

HECTOR D. SOLIMAN
Local Project Director
Justice Reform Initiatives Support (JURIS) Project
Unit 2008 Jollibee Plaza, Emerald Avenue,
Ortigas Center, Pasig City, 1605, Philippines
Email Address: hsoliman@pldtdsl.net
Phone and Fax 632-631-0258

GETTING MARRIED IN ITALY

October 20, 2005

Getting Married in Italy;
Where There’s a Will There’s a Way

By Catherine Smibert

ROME, JUNE 16, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Marrying in the heart of Christendom is just a dream to many Catholics, but one that can become a reality too. I know because I just did it.

May 28 saw me exchanging vows in a medieval basilica built on foundation stones laid by St. Peter and blessed by Pope John Paul II: the ancient cathedral of the Sabine valley.

The occasion and locale had a number of highlights. The locale boasted a variety of holy relics, as well as exquisite architecture and artwork — all set off by the flora of the surrounding countryside.

And all this and more could be yours, if you are willing to do the bureaucratic work.

Foreigners wishing to marry in Italy should contact the Italian authorities via their nation’s embassy about the legal requirements. Embassy Web sites have pages dedicated to this aspect.

Though a little tough, all procedures are actually easier when neither of the spouses-to-be is Italian. Since my new husband is Roman, we had to follow an extra detailed “to do” list in order to be wed.

We had to participate in a six-week marriage preparation course (not a bad idea, really) at Mirko’s local parish, regardless of our own outside spiritual preparations. Only then could our marriage banns be published. And they had to be posted up to two weeks in his parish and the one I grew up in Australia.

These announcements had also to be drawn up separately by the state and posted for extended viewing periods in local government offices.

By contrast, two non-Italians marrying would only have to produce written statements for the bride and groom, testifying that they were free to enter into marriage in the Catholic Church. Such couples would then only need to have their religious certificate stamped to make it internationally recognized.

An American friend who married here last year, Andrea Kirk Assaf, told me: “I had no model to follow, but my research led me to two wonderful Web sites — that of my embassy and of the American church in Rome, Santa Susanna’s.”

Indeed, Santa Susanna’s, along with places such as the Irish
College, specializes in Rome weddings for English-speakers. The former even offers particular assistance with the Vatican itself.

The Vatican is even easier in some ways. Wherever you are married in Rome, the wedding requires both civil and ecclesiastical authorization, while at the Vatican they are combined.

If you cannot get to Rome for your holy union, you can still benefit from papal blessings, either in parchment or in person.

We were fortunate to have parchment blessings from both Pope John Paul II (having placed our request prior to his passing) and then Benedict XVI, as well as a personalized telegram from the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, on behalf of the new Holy Father.

These can be ordered via the Ufficio delle Benedizione (Blessings Office) via fax (39-06-698-83132). Or for more information, you can call 39-06-698-83133.

WORLDS BISHOPS DISCUSS THE PRIEST SHORTAGE

October 14, 2005

Archbishop John Foley, who heads the Vatican’s social communications office, said it was too soon to say whether a specific proposal on making the tribunals more efficient would emerge from the synod. But he said the seeming consensus that appeared to be emerging was a correct “reading” of the trend.

Several synod participants who appeared at a news conference Thursday concurred that the priest shortage was among the major synod issues. But they dismissed reporters’ questions about whether married priests were an option, saying a celibate priesthood was not the reason for the shortage.

“The shortage of priests is a symptom of the problem,” said Cardinal Telesphore Placidus Toppo of India. “The real problem is the crisis of faith.”

In his summary, Scola listed 17 questions for the bishops to consider as they meet in small discussion groups to draft proposals for the pope, including how they should respond to the “urgent duty” to offer the Eucharist to all the faithful, “even in mission countries and where there is a scarcity of priests.”

Scola noted that several bishops had raised the issue, including references to so-called “viri probati” or married men of proven virtue who could be ordained.

Others spoke of the need to better distribute the priests that exist, while several bishops of the Eastern rite, which allows married priests, spoke about their experiences.

“Various Eastern fathers referred to the practice of married priests in their churches, offering each one of us elements for a further careful evaluation of the choice of the Latin church to connect celibacy to ordained priesthood,” Scola said, according to the speech released Thursday by the Vatican.

“To this proposal, some fathers … have affirmed that the hypothesis of the ‘viri probati’ wasn’t a path worth traveling.”

Monsignor Sofron Stefan Mudry, of the Eastern rite Catholic church in Ukraine, echoed this sentiment at the news conference, saying a married priesthood brings “unending problems” to the church, including housing issues and the costs involved in supporting a priest with a family.

He said of his 400 priests, 360 are married, even though in the past, the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine had aimed to keep an equal number of married and celibate priests.

___

Associated Press writer Daniela Petroff contributed to this report.

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