This past weekend, a Ger-man bishop and a German state premier took part in an initiative to bring bells stolen by the Nazis during World War II to their rightful homes in Poland.
Bishop Gebhard Fürst of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart and Baden-Württemberg’s pre-mier, Winfried Kretschmann, completed the act of repatriation, which spanned three different locations within Poland, according to CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language partner agency.
The church bells were originally taken from the communities of Straszewo (formerly Dietrichsdorf), Frombork (Frauenburg), and Zegoty (Siegfrieds-walde), CNA Deutsch reported. Postwar, they found their way into Catholic churches in Württem-berg, Germany. On the week-end of June 24-25, they made their long-awaited return jour-ney, restoring an essential part of these communities’ Catholic heritage.
The repatriation of the chur-ch bells is part of a larger initia-tive, “Bells of Peace for Euro-pe,” initiated by Fürst. The project was inspired by renovations at the St. Martin Cathedral in Ro-ttenburg, which revealed that one of the cathedral’s bells originally hailed from what is modern-day Poland. An in-depth investigation of all Catholic churches in Württemberg further uncovered 66 additional bells from the same era, with 54 of them still active, according to the diocese.
Daily Archives: June 28, 2023
In their words – Untold stories of victims of violence in Nigeria
Victims of violence in north central Nigeria have told The Pillar that they believe the Nigerian government will not bring any aid to them as their communities continue to face violence from marauders who have burned villages and crops, stolen cattle, and kidnapped people for ransom.
In Nigeria’s Niger state, a survivor of violence and abduction in one community told The Pillar about a March attack on her village, in which she and dozens of other people were kidnapped.
Abduction victims in Nigeria declined to show their faces to a camera, for fear of retribution.
The survivor, a 36-year-old mother of two who requested anonymity for her safety, recalled that “this year, precisely on Tuesday, 14 March, it was rumored that armed bandits would attack our village. We didn’t take it seriously as we went about our normal business.”
“On that fateful day, I went to fetch firewood. When I came to offload the first batch, I noticed my husband, who took our son to school, had brought him back. When I asked why, he said, there are fears that bandits are on their way to our community.”
“As we were planning to escape, we ran to the river to fetch water in case our children became thirsty while we are hiding. While we were there, they came and searched the entire village and found no one; by then, we were hiding in the surrounding bushes,” she said.
How the synodal way split Germany’s bishops
Four of Germany’s 27 diocesan bishops have refused to fund a committee created to implement the resolutions of the country’s controversial “synodal way.”
The synodal way’s logo at the final assembly in Frankfurt, Germany, on March 9, 2023. © Synodaler Weg/Maximilian von Lachner.
Cologne’s Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, Regensburg’s Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer, Passau’s Bishop Stefan Oster, and Eichstätt’s Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke vetoed the release of money from a common fund known as the Association of the Dioceses of Germany (VDD), which requires the unanimous approval of the country’s diocesan bishops.
Their decision means that supporters of the synodal way must find an alternative source of funding for the ”synodal committee” ahead of its scheduled first meeting in November.
The committee, which is composed of diocesan bishops and lay people, is intended to pave the way for the creation of a permanent “synodal council” overseeing the Church in Germany — a proposal explicitly rejected by Rome.
Soon after the four bishops’ stance was made public, Irme Stetter-Karp, president of the influential lay Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK), insisted that the synodal committee’s deliberations would go ahead as planned.
Recalling the origins of the synodal way, she said: “It was the bishops who, in unity, asked the ZdK in 2019 to begin this way with them.”
Iraqi Christians oppose move for ‘demographic change’ in Nineveh
Christian leaders and activists from five political parties have jointly issued a statement over large-scale real estate operations in the Christian stronghold of the Nineveh Plains, saying the move aims to change the demography and threaten the Christian heritage of the region.
Five political groups – the Assyrian Democratic Movement (Zowaa), the National Union of Beth Nahrain, the Abnaa al-Nahrain Party, the Assyrian National Party, and the Chaldean-Assyrian-Syriac Popular Council signed the document to denounce the plan for the Governorate of Nineveh, Fides news agency reported on June 21.
The region is a traditional home of various races and religions, especially Christian-majority Chaldean, Assyrian, and Syriac communities belonging to different churches.
A major Christian political party “the Babylon Movement,” which controls four of the five seats reserved for Christian deputies in the Iraqi parliament, did not endorse the document.
The statement said the groups have received information from official and community sources that the municipalities of Nineveh are promoting transactions for the sale and ownership of residential lands in the Talkeif district, one of the districts of the Nineveh Plains, to individuals who are not from the region and who are not of the Christian component, Fides reported.
The groups said these initiatives are “a clear violation” of the Constitution and the 2013 ruling of the Federal Supreme Court.
Synod working doc aims to unite Catholics, but may alienate conservatives
Touting the process as an effort to lead global Catholicism “beyond fragmentation and polarization,” the Vatican published Tuesday the Instrumentum laboris, or “working document,” for a Synod of Bishops on Synodality convened by Pope Francis in October.
However, the specific issues the document lists as matters to be addressed during the summit may actually fuel the Church’s divisions by seeming to favor liberal concerns.
Among the specific topics for discussion the document lists are the ordination of women as deacons and married men as priests, as well as greater outreach to LGBTQ+ Catho-lics and a focus on the poor, the environment and immigration.
On the other hand, the nearly 27,000-word document does not suggest discussion of abortion, same-sex marriage or euthanasia, all typical priorities of more conservative Catholics – indeed, the words “abortion” and “euthanasia” never appear in the text, and “marriage” is mentioned only three times, in the context of remarried divorcees and how to handle inter-church and polygamous marriages.
Although the text stipulates it is “not a document of the church’s magisterium,” meaning its teaching authority, the preponderance of what are often considered progressive Catholic topics nevertheless may further alienate conservatives.
Formally opened by Pope Francis in October 2021, the Synod of Bishops on Synodality is officially titled, “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission,” and is a multi-stage process that will culminate in two Rome-based gatherings in October of this year and October 2024.
Though still difficult for many to define, “synodality” is generally understood to refer to a collaborative and consultative style of management in which all members, clerical and lay, participate in making decisions about the Church’s life and mission.
Modi visits Cairo mosque restored by Dawoodi Bohra
After his US visit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a significant stop in Cairo, where he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
This is the first visit to Egypt by an Indian prime minister in 26 years. During his stay, Modi officially invited al-Sisi to attend the G20 summit in New Delhi in September.
Egypt is one of the countries that have officially asked to join the BRICS group (a global forum that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa set up as an alternative to the G7).
The summit in Cairo also provided the two leaders with the opportunity to sign a series of bilateral agreements on issues ranging from agriculture to the protection of their archaeological heritage.
Culture and religion also played an important part in Modi’s visit, particularly as it might affect India’s domestic affairs. In fact, the prime minister visited Cairo’s 11th century al-Hakim mosque, which was recently restored thanks to Dawoodi Bohra, an Indian Ismaili Shi’a group.
Originally from Egypt, the community of about half a million is concentrated in Modi’s home state of Gujarat, where he started his political career that led him to the prime minister’s office.
Relations between Hindus and Muslims in the state remain tense, especially since communal riots broke out in 2002 causing major bloodshed.
Christians applaud Karnataka move to scrap anti-conversion law
Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore on June 15 comm-ended the Karnataka government for repealing the controversial Anti-Conversion law, enforced by the previous Hindu nationalist government.
“On behalf of the Christian Community, I express my pro-found gratitude and satisfaction towards the government of Kar-nataka for its decision to repeal the anti-conversion bill,” the archbishop says in a press state-ment issued after the state cabinet decided to withdraw the Act.
Karanataka’s Congress led government, which defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party, June 15 decided to repeal the anti-con-version law and proposed to take steps to officially remove the law in the state legislative assembly’s next session starting July 3.
The Anti Conversion Bill, also known as the Karnataka Pro-tection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act, 2022, was enacted, ignoring opposition from the Congress party and others, including Archbishop Machado.
The anti-conversion laws in Karnataka and other states have led to an increase in attacks on Christians. They have also fueled doubts, mistrust and disharmony between communities, lamented the archbishop, who heads the Catholic Church in Karnataka state.
Jesuit Father Cedric Prakash, a human rights and peace activist, welcomed the Karnataka govern-ment move “as a great step to restore freedom enshrined in the Indian constitution.”
India’s “Greta” seeks Pope’s help to bring peace in Manipur
A young Indian climate activist has urged Pope Francis to help bring peace in Manipur, her troubled state in northeastern India.
Licypriya Kangujam on June 5 met the Pope and briefed him about the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur.
The 11-year-old girl also submitted a memorandum to urge the rich nations to pay the loss and damage caused by the climate crisis to the global south.
An ethnic clash erupted May 3 in Manipur between the majority Meitei people, who live in the Imphal Valley, and the tribal community from the surrounding hills, including the Kuki and Zo peoples. More than 70 people were killed and hundreds wounded in the violence that remains unabated. Hundreds of churches belonging to all Christian denominations were torched or damaged in the violence.
Licypriya was among 5 young people selected from all around the world to meet the Pope in his residence in the Vatican. The Pope assured her of every possible effort to bring peace in Manipur.
The young India was in Rome for a five-day official visit. On June 5, she addressed the Green and Blue Festival organized by the biggest media group in Italy as a part of celebrating World Environment Day 2023 at the World’s famous The Colosseum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Opposition resistance to UCC runs against Constitution spirit
The Bharatiya Janata Party government’s predictable move to reignite the controversy over the Uniform Civil Code has invited predictable responses.
Opposition leaders have flayed this move. Questioning the need for the Law Commission to take this up again, several opposition leaders have effectively positioned themselves against the UCC. Muslim organisations have gone a step further and condemned it as a sinister move that is against minorities and the Constitution.
The stage appears set for an ideological battle, both tragic and ironic, with the BJP pushing for the constitutional promise of a UCC and the secular politics arrayed against it.
This is exactly how the BJP must have scripted this debate. It is a mark of our times that secular politics retreats from whatever ground the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the BJP illegitimately encroach upon—Hinduism, traditions, nationalism, and now the UCC.
If this retreat must be halted, secular politics must reclaim the principled and progressive position on the UCC. It must assert that the UCC has nothing to do with customs and practices of any one religion; it is about asserting the uniform primacy of constitutional principles of equality between and within religious communities and uniformly ensuring gender justice. It must realise that opposing the idea of a UCC is poor politics. Besides, it is a bad political strategy in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Manipur archbishop: ‘Violence continues, state no longer present’
“The silence of the prime minister, the incompetence of the interior minister even after his visit to the state, and the indecisi-veness of the local government in ending the violence are worrying. The authorities cannot escape responsibility and shift blame.”
In the face of violence that has now been going on continuously for a month and a half in Manipur State, he is calling the government of Narendra Modi to its responsibilities by the Archbishop of Imphal, Msgr. Dominic Lumon.
He does so in a detailed report issued to all of India’s brother bishops on the situation in the battered northeastern Indian state rocked since early May by serious fighting between the Meitei and Kuki.
“The violence and fires,” writes Msgr. Lumon, “continue unabated, especially in the suburbs of the region. Precious lives have been lost, homes and villages burned or destroyed, property vandalized and looted, places of worship desecrated and burned. More than 50,000 people have lost their homes and are languishing in camps for the displaced. Many have left the capital Imphal and the state to safer places in neighboring Mizoram State, other northeastern states, and metropolises. There is a complete collapse of the constitutional apparatus in the state. In short, there is fear, uncertainty and a general sense of hopelessness.”
The archbishop points out that in the clash between the two communities it is the entire Manipur community that suffers, regardless of affiliations. “In a month and a half,” he denounces, “the elected state government and the central administration in New Delhi have been unable to restore the rule of law and put an end to the insane violence. It can be said that we are facing the collapse of the state machinery at the local level. One wonders why President’s Rule (direct administration by the federal government in New Delhi, provided for in serious cases by Article 356 of the Indian Constitution ed.) is still not considered as an option.”
The prelate speaks of many more casualties than the 100 deaths in the official figures, “Violent activities in the suburbs outside the capital are greatly underestimated,” he writes. “But still house fires continue to occur, even in the heart of the city of Imphal.