The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi has expressed concern over Iranian Muslims converting into Christianity in various parts of Iran.
Speaking on May 4, Alavi said that the Intelligence Ministry and the Qom Seminary have dispatched individuals and institutions active in “countering the advocates of Christianity” to areas where there is a potential among the people for being influenced by Good News missionary campaigns.
Researchers say the expected decline can be predicted a dwindling number of baptisms in Germany, the number of Germans who have departed from formal religious enrollment, and a decrease in Germany’s overall population, which is expected by 2060 to be reduced by 21%.
In total, the number of Germans who pay the country’s Church tax is expected to decrease by 49%. German law collects an income tax on the country’s Church members, which it dis-tributes to Church organizations, among them the Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church of Germany, a federation of Protestant groups, mostly Lutheran, which constitutes the largest Protestant group in Germany.
Taxpayers have the option of opting out of tax payment by notifying state authorities that they have left the religious group in which they are enrolled. In 2017, the Church tax generated $13.5 billion for religious groups in the country. The predicted decline in membership would lead to major budget shortfalls for the Catholic Church in Germany.
The number of abortions in Russia in 2018 fell almost by 10%, according to a Health Ministry report. “In 2018 the number of abortions dropped by 9.6%, i.e. almost by 60,000 cases, and by over 39% in seven years,” the report said. Last year there were 78,000 free extracorporeal fertilization procedures, up 21% on the previous year, resulting in 28,500 newborns, the report said.
Sex-selective abortion has caused the premature death of over 23 million females, according to the first-ever systematic global study of sex ratio imbalance.
Demographers have noted the phenomenon of skewed sex ratios for decades. Millions of females are missing because of sex-selective abortion. This has led to increased trafficking in children and women. It has also led to increased rates of suicide, depression, and substance abuse among unmarried men. But the global scale of the phenomenon and how many girls exactly have been aborted has relied on uncertain estimates.
Now, for the first time, demographers have undertaken to study the phenomenon of skewed sex ratios due to sex-selective abortion systematically across the globe in a study published in the Proceedings of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences with funding from the University of Singapore.
The Association of Catholic Historians of India is holding an international seminar on “Social Changes in India and the Catholic Church: A Historico-Anthropological Approach.”
The May 3-7 seminar at Christ Deemed-to-be University, Bengaluru, is studying the changes between 17 and 20 centuries.
The event is taking place in collaboration with Christ University, Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, Holy See, Vatican and Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram (DVK), Bengaluru, said Carmelite Father Antony Bungalowparambil, an official of the association.
Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay and president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, addressed the gathering on May 5.
Norbertine Bishop Bernard Ardura, O’Prem, president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, Vatican, and rector and director of Missions Etrangeres de Paris are among the participants.
The association consisting of those teaching history in governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as those interested in history, proposed to organise this international seminar for three days.
Scientific discussions supported by solid evidences are to be held by resource persons in the seminar. Participants in the seminar will be drawn from different walks of life.
It is an association of Catholic historians, scholars, and researchers consisting of clergy and lay. It has more than 60 members.
A Protestant pastor in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has been acquitted of charges held against him under India’s state-level anti-conversion laws.
Pentecostal Pastor Balu Saste, his wife, his son, and members of his community were violently attacked by Hindus, later detained by the police and accused of trying to convert people to Christianity by force, according to ADF International.
The group announced on May 6 that a court had dropped all charges against Balu and his family. “The acquittal of Pastor Balu and his family is a vital step towards the protection of religious freedom and the right to freely live out one’s faith,” said Tehmina Arora, Director of ADF India.
“Now he can continue to tend to his small community of Christians without interference from the state. Unfortunately, this is not the only case in India where Christians have been falsely accused under anti-conversion laws.”
A group of nationalists stormed Balu’s church three years ago during a service and began beating and harassing worshippers, ADF International reports.
A court in Madhya Pradesh on May 11 ordered a police probe into a Catholic bishop’s death in a road accident almost four months ago. Judicial Magistrate First Class Nidhi Neelesh Shrivastava, Pohari, district Shivpuri has directed the police to investigate the circumstances that led to the death of Bishop Thomas Thennatt of Gwalior and submit its report within a month. The court order came following a laywoman’s petition saying that she suspected foul play in the bishop’s death. The woman, Dolly Theresa, alleged the diocesan authorities have restrained her from receiving Holy Communion from all churches in the diocese after she filed the petition.