Pakistan goes to the polls to-morrow for very delicate general elections. Today’s election eve was also marked by serious violence, with two attacks in which 28 people died and at least 40 others were injured in Pishin and Qila Saifullah, in the province of Baluchistan. While from prison, former Prime Minister Imran Khan had his followers spread a pre-recorded message inviting followers of his party to go and vote. In such a tense context, what do these elections represent for Pakistan’s Christians? AsiaNews asked Msgr. Samson Shukardin, bishop of the diocese of Hyderabad and president of the Episcopal Conference of Pakistan:
“Due to the way the electoral system works, even the parliamentarians who are supposed to represent minorities are chosen by the political parties and not by the community. Many voters, then, do not have access to the vote because they have not been registered, otherwise in some constituencies Christians would have a very high number of voters. We too must improve so that all the faithful are aware of their rights and duties as citizens. ”
“We need good candidates who can serve our community. Already today in at least 20 constituencies in the country Christian voters are a significant number and we could win general seats, but everything is left to the choice of each party.”
Daily Archives: February 14, 2024
New Report Details Communist Party Takeover Of Religion in Hong Kong
The Committee for Free-dom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation has today (30th January 2024) launched a ma-jor new report detailing the collapse of religious freedom in Hong Kong.
The report, titled “Hostile Takeover: The CCP and Hong Kong’s Religious Communi-ties”, authored by the CFHK Foundation’s Policy and Advocacy Coordinator Frances Hui, is now available to read in full on our website.
The paper delves into the systematic breaking of promises made under the “One Country, Two Systems” arrangement, as outlined in the Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
This study details the efforts of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to assert control over Hong Kong’s religious sphere, signaling a bleak future for religious freedoms in the region.
Some of the main abuses of religious freedom, and its consequences, detailed in the report, are as follows:
• Orchestrated CCP Takeover: The CCP is actively taking control of Hong Kong’s religious institutions, as seen through various initiatives and efforts to influence religious groups.
• Strategic Importance of Religion: A recent Chinese Bluebook emphasizes the strategic importance of Hong Kong’s religions for China, linking religious groups with accusations of involvement in “violent protests” and collusion with foreign organizations.
• Politicization of Religious Organizations: The CCP is politicizing religious organizations to advance its agenda. Ominously, the CCP is rallying Muslim governments to downplay human rights violations against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang….
Indonesia: On the eve of the presidential vote Widodo changes the name of Christian festivals
On the eve of the presidential and parliamentary vote in Indonesia – the most populous Muslim nation in the world – in a climate marked by protests over the “interventionism” of the outgoing leader Joko Widodo in favour of Prabowo Subianto, there is a small but significant change for Christians.
In fact, with presidential decree 8/2024 regarding public holidays, the head of state last week decided to officially change the name of the anniversaries, moving from the previous Islamic name to the Christian term. From this month of February, therefore, the term “Isa al Masih” will no longer be used, but the more appropriate “Jesus Christ” will be used.
Jokowi’s decision will concern, in particular, the naming of four holidays present in the country’s calendar: Christmas, which from today will be called “Day of the Birth of Jesus Christ”; Good Friday, which is the “Day of the Death of Jesus Christ”; Easter, now “Day of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ” and the ascension to heaven, from “Isa al Masih” to “Jesus Christ”. The choice was based on Jokowi’s desire to show the increasingly plural face of the country in terms of religious faith and confessional harmony.
The possibility of changing the name of the Christian holidays had been discussed for two years, since the Minister for Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas had proposed it during a meeting with the Indonesian bishops in the Moluccas in April 2022. A choice linked to the request of groups of faithful who asked to make the terminology more “Christian”, compared to using the Islamic denomination.
Beijing and the Holy See: Positive signs tempered by heavy silence
As I write the Chinese New Year, the high point of the year, is being celebrated at home and overseas. It is the year of the dragon, which among the twelve animals of the horoscope is the strongest and most loved: it is to be believed that many Chinese women will want to have a child in this year, considered the most fortunate of all.
Today’s celebration catapults me into thinking about the Catholic faith in China, the fundamental theme of my life dedicated to the mission. From what we can know, 2024 should be a decisive year for dialogue between China and the Holy See: the 2018 agreement, renewed twice, will have to be permanently ratified or abandoned.
In recent days, news has arrived which has rightly been commented on positively by observers: three new bishops have been ordained, with the approval of both parties, in compliance with the agreement. 2023 had been an annus horribilis for the Holy See, with the sensational transfer to Shanghai of Bishop Shen Bin.
It was the second unilateral act by China which had ousted the Holy See from any consultation. The Vatican protested. It went on to accept what had happened, but requested it not reoccur.
The last three agreed ordinations, accompanied by the recognition by the Holy See of the establishment of a new diocese (Weifang, in the province of Shandong, with borders redrawn by the Chinese authorities) have given the impression that there is, on the Chinese side, the will not to break with Rome and to permanently ratify the agreement.
It should be remembered that this ‘good’ news must be contextualised: if it is true that the Pope appoints the bishops, they are not chosen by him but by an autonomous process led by the Chinese authorities, the details of which are not known, as the text of the agreement remains secret.
Those elected in China are therefore Catholic bishops, but at the same time certainly appreciated by the authorities.
Half a million Catholics in India petition government for better living conditions
Hundreds of thousands of Indian Catholics are petitioning the government to improve living conditions there.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Congress presented Kerala state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with the petition late last month after a major signature campaign, one meant to address what the congress described as “unprecedented crises” facing the Christian community there.
Vijayan “was very concerned and assured to consider our demands,” Catholic Congress President Biju Parayannilam told this month.
“Around half a million Catholics” in Kerala signed the petition, UCA News said.
“Ordinary people are struggling to eke out a living and we want the government to focus its attention on their problems,” Father Philip Kaviyil, director of the Catholic Congress’ global committee, told the news outlet.
Among the demands presented to the government was the timely delivery of social security payments. Elderly citizens in the state are given the equivalent of about $20 per month from the government, but they “are not getting it on time, making their life miserable,” the priest said.
Farmers are also reportedly struggling to make ends meet while also dealing with wild animal attacks.
Parayannilam said the activists were “hopeful that the government will make some positive announcement regarding our demands in the current budget session of the state assembly.”
Church-run schools in India told to remove Christian symbols
A Hindu group has given an ultimatum to Christian schools in India’s north-eastern Assam state to rid themselves of all Christian symbols including religious habits and cassocks.
Satya Ranjan Borah, president of the Hindu outfit Kutumba Surakshya Parishad (family safety council) said the move aims to stop Christian missionaries from using schools for conversion activities.
“Christian Missionaries are converting schools and educational institutes into religious institutes. We will not allow it,” he said at a press conference in Guwahati on Feb. 7
Assam is ruled by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The group wants the idols or photographs of Jesus and Mary removed and has set a 15-day deadline for Christian schools to comply, failing which they warned of dire consequences.
Borah said they also want priests, nuns and brothers serving in Christian schools to stop wearing cassocks and religious habits on school campuses.
He accused them of promoting Christianity in schools through the display of such Christian symbols.
Archbishop John Moolachi-ra of Guwahati said all the alle-gations “are baseless.”
“We are aware of the threat and I do not understand why is this happening,” he told on February 9.
Christians have been actively involved in imparting education for several decades in Assam’s remote areas where poor tribal people dwell.
India’s bishops: ‘Attacks on Christians now common’
A body bringing together India’s Latin Catholic, Syro-Malabar, and Syro-Malankara bishops deplored Wednesday increasing attacks on the country’s Christian minority.
In a six-page statement issued Feb. 7, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) ex-pressed alarm at rising intolerance in Indian society and political life.
It said: “Attacks on Christians continue to increase in different parts of India. Destruction of homes and churches, harassment of personnel serving in orphanages, hostels, educational and healthcare institutions on false allegations of conversion have become common.”
Christians account for around 2.3% of India’s population, forming the country’s third-largest religious group, after Muslims (14.2%), and Hindus (79.8%).
Roughly a third of Indian Christians – more than 20 million people – are Catholic. They belong to three autonomous particular churches: the Latin Church, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.
Since 2014, India has been led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a member of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In April and May this year, India is scheduled to hold general elections, in which Modi will seek a third term in power.
In January, the advocacy group Open Doors listed India as the world’s 11th worst country in which to be a Christian.
Minorities slam Indian state’s new uniform civil code
Christian and Muslim leaders have disapproved of the passing of a polarising and contentious uniform civil code by a pro-Hindu government in a northern Indian state.
The Uniform Civil Code Bill was passed after two days of debate on Feb. 7 by the Uttarakhand state assembly through a voice vote amidst chanting of ‘Jai Sri Ram’ (Hail Lord Ram) and other pro-Hindu slogans.
The Uttarakhand government has fulfilled the demand of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an umbrella organization of Hindu groups, Christian and Muslim leaders said.
The RSS has long espoused a common civil code for the entire nation of 1.4 billion. It has been one of the electoral promises made by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India does not have uniform laws for personal matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption and inheritance. Instead, it has a patchwork of different codes based on the customary traditions of different communities and faiths.
The rights of women, children, and families across India vary considerably depending on which code they fall under.
Goa located on India’s west coast is the only part of India with a common code, introduced when it was a Portuguese colony.
Many hardline Hindu politicians, jurists and reformists have described these custom-based codes as regressive and have lobbied for a code that would apply to all Indians equally.
Amid arrests of Indian priests and nun, bishop calls for ‘storming of heaven’
After the recent arrests of priests and a nun in India on charges that they violated the Hindu-majority country’s “anti-conversion” laws, a Catholic bishop has sent out an appeal “to storm heaven with prayers.”
Bishop Ignatius D’Souza of Bareilly in the Archdiocese of Agra issued a “prayer request” on social media Feb. 7.
“I request you to storm heaven so that all those who are dealing with this sensitive case may get enlightened by the Holy Spirit and our brothers may be released soon,” D’Souza pleaded.
In the post, he said that Father Dominic Pinto and nine Protestant lay organizers have been taken into custody on charges that they violated the anti-conversion act, which, he said, does not allow those arrested to be released on bail.
Eleven out of India’s 28 states have passed laws to criminalize forced conversions but, in practice, they have been used to prevent the practice of the Christian faith.
Pinto, director of the Lucknow Diocese’s pastoral center in northern Uttar Pradesh state, was arrested on Feb. 6 for allowing a gathering of 100 people led by evangelical pastors to take place in the Catholic center. The government of Uttar Pradesh is controlled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India’s population is 79.8% Hindu, 14.2% Muslim, and 2.3% Christian. In Uttar Pradesh state – India’s most populous state with 2.3 million inhabitants – only 18% are Christian.
“Hindu fundamentalists barged into the center and insisted on the arrest of the priest at the police station along with the pastors while other fundamentalists even threatened the nearby convent and nuns nearby,” Father Donald D’Souza, chancellor of the Lucknow Diocese, told.
Karnataka’s first Syro-Malabar diocese celebrates silver jubilee
Option for the poor and the marginalized is the only mission of the Syro-Malabar Church in India, asserted Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil while inaugurating the silver jubilee celebration of Belthangady diocese in Karnataka.
Belthangady is the first Syro-Malabar diocese in the southern Indian state, created in 1999, that caters to the migrated Catholics from Kerala. It is spread over in Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Chikmagaluru, and Shimoga districts.