A Salesian priest was conferred with 12th International Human Rights Award for his contribution to peace with media reforms by the Delhi-based All India Council of Human Rights Council.
Father C.M. Paul of the Calcutta Salesian province, currently working as Vice Principal at Salesian College, Siliguri in West Bengal, was presented with the award on December 10, the International Human Rights Day, at the Lodhi Road Islamic Centre Auditorium in New Delhi.
Accepting the award, Father Paul said, “This award is for all those who suffer injustice human rights violation silently.”
Speaking at the panel discussion prior to the award function, a veteran in the field of communication, Father Paul said, “If you have been a victim of human rights violation and injustice, only then you can be a voice for the voiceless. Let us join hands to pledge to protect human rights in our neighbourhood, society and country at large.”
Fr C M Paul on the extreme rightThe native of the southern Indian state is the founder director of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Assam Don Bosco University, Guwahati, and Salesian College, Sonada. He is also the founder director of Radio Salesian 90.8 FM in 2016 and Salesian TV (YouYube) in 2018 at Salesian College, Darjeeling.
Daily Archives: December 13, 2022
Pandemic increased sexual exploitation of girls: Study by nuns
The Covid-19 pandemic which began at the end of 2019 has caused “serious hardship” relating to domestic violence, sexual abuse, increased child labor exploitation and mental health to children and adolescents, particularly girls, says a new study by nuns from four congregations.
The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco, the Comboni Missionary Sisters and the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions collaborated on a study entitled “How are the girls?”
All four congregations have been working for decades in support of children and girls in the most vulnerable communities in resource-deprived countries, and is at the core of their mission. The study looks into how Covid affected the lives of girls in Ecuador, Peru, South Sudan, Kenya, India and Nepal. The quantitative research involved 3,443 adolescent girls in those six countries, selected among participants in the congregations’ programs.
The findings of the study were released at the headquarters of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) in Rome December 7.
Social dimension problems
A key highlight that emerged from the study is the significant difference in the incidence of child labor. More than 20 % of girls under 15 years of age versus 5% of girls between 15 and 18 report having being engaged in child labor. While generally, for one out of six girls, there has been a decrease in the number of daily meals since the beginning of the pandemic, currently about 10 % of girls live eating less than two meals a day.
Less than 30 % of girls report having witnessed at least occa-sional conflicts at home during the Covid-19 lockdown, and more than half of them say that this has changed with respect to before the pandemic. More than 60 % of girls reported a sense of worry, and half of them have experienced sadness.
The results show that more than 35% of girls experienced serious or very serious hardship during the pandemic, with 100% of girls having experienced a serious or very serious hardship being 15 years or older.
Among those who experienced very serious hardship, 80% live in Africa (Kenya or South Sudan), and 64% live in rural or remote areas.
Follow Francis Xavier in proclaiming Christ’s message: Nuncio
Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal Archbishop Leo-poldo Girelli has exhorted Christians to give Christ the central place in their lives and obey His command to go forth and make disciples of all nations.
The nuncio was celebrating Mass at Bom Jesu Basilica on December 3, on the occasion of the feast of St Francis Xavier. He was assisted by Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao, archbishop of Goa-Daman and more than 50 priests.
The theme of the weeklong celebration was in keeping with the Synod “Following Jesus like St. Francis Xavier let us foster communion, participation and Mission.”
Archbishop Girelli pointed out that although St Francis Xavier was not a Goan by birth he became one by heart, and proclaimed the kingdom of God in Goa.
“St Francis is known as one of the greatest preachers of apo-stolic zeal, since the time of the apostles and had the great vision to bring the Word of God to all people. The saintly priest walked the streets of this great city giving solace to many persons and im-parting to them the values of the Kingdom of God,” he added.
Indian Church mourns death of renowned Jesuit thinker
The Church in India has mourned the death of Jesuit Father Abraham Adappur, a renowned thinker and writer who drafted Pope Paul VI’s address to India.
Father Adappur died De-cember 3, the feast of St Francis Xavier, at Christ Hall, the head-quarters of the Jesuits’ Kerala province in Kozhikode, a major town in the southern Indian state of Kerala. He was 97.
The body of the Kerala Jesuit province was kept at the Christ Hall for the public to pay their respects at 4 pm December 5. The funeral is scheduled at 10:30 am on December 5 at the Christ King Church cemetery near Christ Hall.
“With the passing away of Fr Abraham Adappur … the Catholic Church in India, especially in Kerala, has lost not just a Jesuit writer and intellectual, but the most seasoned voice of the Church that had the reputation of an authentic Christian thinker, theologian, speaker, and activist,” says Father E P Mathew, head of the Jesuits’ Kerala province.
Kerala High Court orders police protection for Vatican-appointed administrator
The Kerala High Court has ordered the state police to provide protection to the Vatican-appointed administrator of a strife-torn archdiocese in the southern Indian state.
The apex court in Kerala on December 5 ordered police protection for Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, the apostolic admini-strator of Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese in response to the prelate’s petition.
The prelate’s petition has stated that he fears for his life especially from Father Sebastian Thalian, convener of the Arch-diocesan Protection Committee and Riju Davis, secretary of the Archdiocesan Move-ment for Transparency (ATM), and added them as respondents.
The court also sought replies from the duo and the matter was posted for hearing on December 8.
The prelate has also sought an order from the High Court for his free access to the Archbishop’s House and the St Mary’s Cathedral Basilica where he is denied entry by the priests and laity who oppose the Synod approved uniform mode of Mass.
On the contrary, the priests and the people in the archdiocese want to continue with the mode they have followed for more than six decades where the priest faces the congre-gation throughout the Mass.
The court ordered the police to help the archbishop access the Archbishop’s House and the cathedral. It also ordered the police to remove those inside the Archbishop’s House.
The priests and people of the archdiocese have been camping inside the Archbishop’s House since November 21 and denied Arch-bishop Thazhath’s entry. The archbishop had asked the cathedral vicar to facilitate him to offer the Synod Mass on November 27.
North Korea executes teens for distributing foreign films
Terrified residents expre-ssed grave shock as North Korean authorities publicly executed three teenagers by firing including two who alle-gedly watched and distributed South Korean movies, says a report.
A third teenager was accused of murdering his stepmother, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Dec. 2 quoting witnesses.
The officials in the ultra-communist pariah state have claimed that the crimes committed by teens aged around 16 or 17 were “equally evil” and forced the shocked residents of Hyesen city near the border with China to watch the firing.
“They said, ‘Those who watch or distribute South Korean movies and dramas, and those who disrupt social order by murdering other people, will not be forgiven and will be sentenced to the maximum penalty–death,’” said a local resident. The execution took place in October at an airfield in the city, the resident said.
“Hyesan residents gathered in groups at the runway,” she said. “The authorities put the teen-aged students in front of the public, sentenced them to death, and immediately shot them.”
Brutal public executions are not uncommon in North Korea, which the authorities typically use to terrorize people to deter them from any behaviour not permitted.
The executions came about a week after the authorities declared the state will hand down tough punishments for crimes that involve foreign media, especially those from South Korea.
Food prices compound ordinary Bangladeshis’ woes
Suman Haldar, a Catholic who runs a small grocery store in a Bangladesh village, is feeling the pinch thanks to skyrocketing prices and falling income which has led to the rationing of food in his six-member household. “I could afford chicken once a week even during the Covid pandemic, but now it’s become difficult to have it even once a month,” the 37-year-old father of two told. Haldar lives with his wife, kids and elderly parents in Baniarchar, a village in Gopalgonj district, in the southern part of the country. Worse is the situation of some 33 million people, who are estimated to be living below the poverty line in Bangladesh.
“Six months ago I used to earn more than 15,000 taka (US$145) per month, but now I struggle to make 8,000 taka,” he said, adding how his family was surviving on rice and vegetables grown on a tiny plot of family land covering about one-tenth of a hectare.
Cast out for doing the dirty work in Pakistan
Shafiq Masih, a 45-year-old Catholic in Pakistan, stood inside a manhole, half his body submerg-ed in the dark slush of sewage. Someone asked him to look up, and the camera clicked. That photograph, published in several international publications, made him the face of sanitation workers in the Muslim-majority country.
“But it only deepened my seclusion within my own Catholic community,” laments Masih, who says he rarely goes to church be-cause Catholics in his St. Paul’s Church in Lahore diocese ”do not consider me part of their” Cast out for doing the dirty work in Pakistan.
Shafiq Masih is one among the thousands of Catholic sani-tation workers who face discri-mination and social exclusion within the Church and society in Pakistan.
Shafiq Masih, a 45-year-old Catholic in Pakistan, stood inside a manhole, half his body submerg-ed in the dark slush of sewage. Someone asked him to look up, and the camera clicked. That photograph, published in several international publications, made him the face of sanitation workers in the Muslim-majority country.
“But it only deepened my seclusion within my own Catholic community,” laments Masih, who says he rarely goes to church be-cause Catholics in his St. Paul’s Church in Lahore diocese ”do not consider me part of their” commu-nity.
Masih is just one of the thousands of Catholic sanitation workers who face discrimination and social exclusion within the Church and society in Pakistan.
Korean religious groups seek to dispel Islam fears
An interfaith group in South Korea organized a seminar to help people clear misconceptions about Islam, including the wearing the hijab, to forge better ties with the minority faith in the country.
The Korean Religious Peace Conference (KCRP) held a public seminar on the dialogue between Korean religions and Islam titled “Islam: Approaching Peaceful Co-existence and Future” from Dec. 5-6 in the capital Seoul, the Ca-tholic Times reported on Dec. 7.
In his opening address, Kim Dong-eok, president of the Korean Muslim Association, emphasized that Islam is a “religion of peace.”
“There are people who mis-understand the true meaning of Islam in Korean society. I hope that many people will understand and cooperate with Korean Islam through this seminar,” said Kim.
“The image of Islam has become increasingly fixed as one of violence, dictatorship, and oppression”
The KCRP was established in 1965 by leaders of six religious groups — Protestantism, Buddh-ism, Confucianism, Won-Buddh-ism, Cheondo-gyo, and Catholi-cism — with an aim to promote dialogue and harmony among followers of various religions.
A farewell to pacifism in Japan
Detaching itself from the horrendous memories of a nuclear explosion 77 years ago and mull-ing to bury its pacifist constitution behind it, Japan is getting ready to be armed from top to bottom to take head on three neighbour-ing nuclear-power nations at the same time.
Since the Ukraine war started in February this year by nuclear-powered Russia, Japan has been courting big-time defence spend-ers while adopting an unprece-dented level of economic sanct-ions against its maritime neigh-bour, which are also aimed at its communist neighbour China and Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s re-calcitrant leader.
With the ruling Liberal Demo-cratic Party (LDP) enjoying consi-derable clout in society and a two-thirds majority in both houses of the Diet, it may institute changes to Japan’s pacifist constitution and turn the country’s Self-Defence Forces into a full-fledged military. It’s just a matter of time.
The makeover will suit Ja-pan’s new level of aggression, the only country to ever be attacked with atomic weapons, and its in-creased role in Asia’s security.
“The government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also imposed an unprecedented level of economic sanctions against Russia.”