The Catholic Church in South Korea had 5.813 million worshippers accounting for 11% of the country’s population as of Dec. 31, 2017, up 1.3% from one year earlier, according to newly released statistics. But the figures released on April 13 by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea (CBCK) also represent the slowest rate of growth in the last decade, leaving church authorities concerned about a continued wind-down. Last year, a total of 96,794 young Catholics were baptized in the country but this also represents a slowdown as the figure dropped 12.9% from 2016.
WORLD ASSEMBLY OF RELIGIOUS CONCLUDES IN BENGALURU
The 13th World Fellowship of World Religious Councils (WIFRC) concluded on April 21 with delegates from various religions celebrating the diversity of faiths and religious traditions.
Around 200 people from all over India representing Bahai, Buddhisht, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Muslim, Sikh, faiths conducted a series of symposiums and panel discussions on the theme “Accept, respect and celebrate diversity” during the three-day assembly at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram in Bengaluru, southern India.
The assembly ended with a resolution to start Harmony Clubs in various schools to give peace education to children and to promote celebration of diversities.
WFIRC president Swami Sadashivananda from Coimbatore, in his presidential address, said that the delegates believed in the element of innate goodness existing in all human beings. “It flourishes when people of all religions, castes and creeds come together to celebrate each other’s faith and festivals,” he added.
WFIRC general secretary, Carmelite Father Roby Kannanchira welcomed the delegates saying the assembly’s focus was to take a personal and collective resolution to celebrate the faith of the other without losing one’s won, uphold one’s religion without hurting others and appreciate the differences without giving one’s uniqueness. Dr K.P.Fabian, who was former ambassador in various countries, narrated from his experience of living with people of diverse religious backgrounds.
INDIAN NUNS HELP INDIGENOUS WOMEN BREAK FREE OF SHACKLES
Sister Lizy Thomas from the Uday (Dawn) Social Development Society is pictured with her co-workers as they attend a media conference organized by indigenous women in Jhabua district of India’s Madhya Pradesh State – hoping to enlist the media’s help in their crusade against alcoholism.
For Shanti Devada, the mud walls of her home in Badi Damini village of Jhabua district in the central Indian State of Madhya Pradesh were more like a prison than a shelter or a place of refuge.
She lived a closeted life, not daring to speak to men outside of her family or step outside her village without a chaperon. In fact, the traditions and customs of the indigenous group to which she belongs are so strict, she even had to cover her face with a sari when speaking to male relatives.
However that all changed about eight years ago when Devada, who is now 50, began to defy these conservatives, even archaic customs and became a self-style “crusader” fighting for the greater empo- werment of women.
ANTI-HUMAN TRAFFICKING LIFE-THREATEN- ING CHALLENGE: FRANCISCAN NUN
Working against human trafficking is a huge challenge, says a member of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM) congregation working in Chhattisgarh State, central India. “Working against the human trafficking in India is the most challenging task. It is a road less-travelled. It is a life-threatening apostolate, yet for the love of those women, we have to rescue, save and rehabilitate those victims of slave industry,” Sr Anne Jesus Mary, director of Jeevan Jharna Vikas Sansthan (JJVS, institute
for the development of life stream), Jashpur, told Matters India. On April 22, Sr Anne addressed on human trafficking conditions in the State of Chhattisgarh to a group of 50 priests and nuns who held a day- long CRI (Conference of Reli- gious India) regional meeting in Jashpur.
She spoke about the South Asian network of sisters working against trafficking, AMRAT, that comprises trained social workers, counselors, lawyers and many other professionals committed to confronting modern slavery. AMRAT members in India number about 600. Sr Anne is one of them.
BIHAR WOMEN RISE UP FOR INDIAN DAUGHTERS’ SAFETY
Catholic religious women joined more than 25,000 people of Bihar to undertake 72 hours of fast to demand security for the daughters of India.
Nine women and men fasted continuously during April 18- 20 while others joined them in relay fast, Rupesh, (goes by one name) of the Bihar forum of ‘Right to Food,’ one of the organizers of the program, told Matters India.
The program was held at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, a historic ground near the Ganges River in Patna, the state capital.
Politicians from different parties and the administration also attended the program, which, Rupesh claimed, has helped awaken the people of Bihar in many ways. “Our hope is that the government also wakes up to bring law and order in our nation,” he added.
Rupesh said the Bihar Women’s Network and the members of ‘Right to Food’ forum are organizing protests at various parts of Bihar dema- nding accountability from the government machinery and the people’s elected representative.
Neelu Devi, convener of Bihar Women Network, another NGO, termed as irony that the government on one hand coins slogans such as ‘save daughters, teach daughters,’ while on the other protects the perpetrators of crime against the same daughters.”
MALAYATTOOR FOLLOWS GREEN PROTOCOL, CUTS DOWN PLASTIC
In a classic example of how a joint effort can usher in change, the incessant efforts of a small group of people has ensured that the recently concluded Malayattoor pilgrimage followed the green protocol. This effort, in association with the district Suchithwa Mission and the Forest Department, could see the drastic reduction in plastic waste.
A team of four friends, Shine Varghese, Gopu Kesavan, Biju P and Dr Manoj, a researcher in waste management, who persuaded state authorities to implement the green protocol at the National Games in 2015, are behind this step as well.
In 2015 itself, they met the priests of the Syro Malabar Church, to which the pilgrimage is associated.
“In the initial period, when we first met them in 2015, they were not convinced at all. In 2017, we presented a letter from K Vasuki, the former director of the State Suchitwa Mission, who was instrumental in implementing the green protocol at the National Games. The priests then began supporting the idea. What more, the church spent Rs 30 lakh to make drinking water available on top of the hill, so that plastic bottles can be avoided,” Shine Varghese says.
THOUSANDS MOURN LOSS OF INDIAN MISSIONARY ABP
Thousands of people attended the April 23 funeral service of an arch- bishop highly regarded for his work among indigenous communities in central India.
At least 5,000 people attended the funeral for Archbishop Abraham Viruthakulangara of Nagpur at Francis de Sales Cathedral in the city of Nagpur in western Maharashtra State on April 23. Abp Viruthakulangara died of a cardiac arrest while asleep on April 19. He was in New Delhi at the time to attend a meeting of regional bishops. He was 74 years of age.
ABOLISH HATE-MONGERING ORGANIZATIONS: GOA CHURCH
In the backdrop of Kathua and Unnao rape cases, the Goa Church sees a growing trend in India to justify crimes committed against some sections of society by using the garb of nationalism. The trend has generated fear and insecurity among the citizens, it adds.
The Council for Social Justice and Peace (CSJP), the social arm of the Goa archdiocese, appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to eliminate the “growing ideology of hate” and “subjugation of women” in the country.
The council expressed concern over the recent cases of rape of minor girls in Kathua (Jammu and Kashmir) and Unnao (Uttar Pradesh) and what it called killings of fellow citizens in the name of community honour, religion and nationalism.
The actual response for these incidents should be to abolish organisations that advocate the “ideology of hate” and “subjugation of women,” CSJP Executive Secretary Fr Savio Fernandes said in a statement. The council is deeply agonized over the horrendous rapes of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua, a teenager in Unnao and other such cases reported over the last few days in the country, he said.
TAMIL CHRISTIANS PROTEST AGAINST VIOLENCE, HARASSMENT
Thousands of Christians took to the streets during protests across the southern Indian State of Tamil Nadu on April 17 to demand government action to stop what they call increasing harass- ment and violence against Christ- ians. Some 20,000 Christians from various denominations filled roads in at least 16 cities and towns shouting slogans against govern- ment inaction to check anti- Christian activities allegedly carried out by upper-caste Hindu groups. The Synod of Pentecostal Churches in Tamil Nadu organi- zed the protest as Christians have been subjected to atleast 15 cases of violence in the first three months of this year.
Incidents include the myster- ious death of a pastor who was found dead a week after he complained to police about harassment from hard-line Hindus. “We are facing lot of persecution in our state,” Synod general secretary K.B. Edison told ucanews.com.
“The peaceful protest was to get the attention of the state and federal government about the serious need for security and protection of the Christian minority.
BISHOP DEMOLISHES CONVERSION ‘MYTH’ OF KERALA
The Bishop of Niranam diocese, historically one of the oldest dioceses of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church in Kerala, has criticized the upper caste tendencies among believers fuelled by a “mythical” belief that St Thomas converted Brahmins to Christianity in Kerala. It is also widely believed that St Thomas, one of the 12 apostles of Christ, had converted members of top Brahmin families in Kerala to Christianity. Though the Abrahamic faith is devoid of caste hierarchies, Christian families often hold get-togethers to celebrate their lineage and put out books proclaiming their Brahmin origin.
The Bishop, Geevarghese Mor Coorilos, however, in a Facebook post announced that he would not attend any such get-togethers, dubbing them as “programs to assert their artificially created upper caste identity and lineage.”
“They say their ancestors were Brahmins converted by St Thomas. They even put out their family history in books proclaiming such false notions. These baseless, savarna caste oriented and reactionary myths have to be busted,” read his statement in Malayalam, adding, “I did attend such events due to my personal intimacy with them. But, I regret it. I can’t (do it) any more.”
Syrian Christians are divided mainly into Syrian Catholic, Jacobite, Orthodox, Marthoma churches depending upon whether they owe their allegiance to the Pope in Rome, the Patriarch in Antioch, Catholicos in Kerala’s Kottayam or Metropolita in Thiruvalla. Coorilos, who belongs to Jacobite Church, has mercilessly swung an axe at the root of the age-old belief that is pervasive across all the four sects – that their ancestors are Namboodiris who were converted to Christianity by St Thomas.
It also questions the existence of churches like Malayatoor that is famously believed to be the meditative halt of St Thomas during his Kerala leg of his sojourn. Brahmins’ conversion to Christianity under St Thomas had been a point of dispute for long. Historians such as M.G.S.Narayanan had earlier questioned the claim.
Pius Melekandathil, professor at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), who is an expert on maritime history and church history, admitted that it is a matter of dispute however saying that the probability factor has to be taken into consideration.
Fr Paul Thelakat, former Syro Malabar Church spokes- person, echoed Coorilose’s statement. “In India we have baned that irrespective of our religion we have been Manu sleeping within our consciousness. Everyone wants to establish one’s own upper caste glory. It is found in the ancient Christians of Kerala e.g certain families claiming to have been baptised from Brahmin families by St Thomas himself. St Thomas is supposed to have come to Kerala, it would be in the first century. Brahmins came to south India only in the 8th century. I am sorry to say upper caste mentality can be found also in Marxists in Kerala. Even though Marxism has a universal humanistic ideology, we find the upper caste surname kept, like Nampoodiripad, Menon, Pillai, Nair etc,” he said.