A Catholic priest in India has quit pastoral ministry saying he wants to clean up his Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church, which he alleged deviated from the teachings of Christ.
Father Ajimon Puthiyapramabil of Thamarassery diocese in southern Kerala state announced his decision on May 13 to pursue what he calls the “prophetic mission” of Christ.
“…But from today I am entering the prophetic mission, one of the missions of the Christian priesthood,” the 46-year-old priest said in a letter to the parishioners of Sacred Heart Church in Mukkom where he last served.
The Syro-Malabar Church based in Kerala witnessed a series of scandals in the past four years including court cases and street protests involving priests and bishops. Allegations of lack of financial transparency and a protracted liturgical dispute were top among them.
“I took this decision after two years of discernment,” Father Puthiyapramabil told UCA News on May 19.
“I know I cannot speak up my mind being in a parish ministry, therefore, I decided to quit. It does not mean that I quit my priesthood,” he added.
Father Joice Vayalil, vicar-general of the diocese, however, said the diocese was not aware of the priest’s decision.
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Catholic nuns rehabilitate temple dancers in southern India
Gadyamma, who has been living as a devadasi since childhood, does not want her daughter to follow the oppressive tradition of being a female dancer in Hindu temples.
“I became a devadasi when I was 12 under our village tradition, but I want my daughter to study and lead a dignified life,” Gadyamma (who asked not to use her last name) told Global Sisters Report, while tightly holding her 14-year-old daughter, Dadyamma.
Devadasis are part of a religiously sanctioned ancient system in southern India, where girls are offered as “slaves of god or goddess” — the literal translation of devadasis — just before they reach puberty. As a devadasi, they serve the temple in religious rituals, music, dance, and religious service.
Over the years, this custom became a forced dedication to a life of prostitution and dance, especially to entertain the temple priests and the high caste elites. While temple services are unpaid, girls depend on paid sex work for their living.
The state banned the tradition under the Karnataka Devadasis (Prohibition of Dedication) Act in 1982, though today it continues as a clandestine practice outside temples. (The devadasi system also once prevailed in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra, where it’s now abolished.)
Goa High Court upholds right to practice religion of choice
A top court in western India has lifted prohibition imposed on a Christian couple to preach their religion upholding the constitutional right of a citizen to practice and profess one’s religion.
The May 19 order of the Goa bench of Bombay High Court came at a time when Christians face increased hostilities from mostly right wing groups in states ruled by Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party who accuse them of indulging in religious conversions.
Referred to articles in the Constitution that guarantee religious freedom, the court asserted, “The article guarantees to all persons, the equal entitlement of freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practice and propagate religion.”
“The right conferred upon a citizen to profess and propagate religion correspondingly casts a duty on the state and the executive to ensure that every person should be allowed to freely practice, preach or profess his/her belief,” the court added.
“The State has a duty to extend all possible protection to its citizens, through free speech and the freedom of expression, enshrined in Article 19(1) of the Constitution of India to indulge in public discourse and to propagate religious practice. All persons have a fundamental right to form institution, purchase property for their use and to profess and propagate religion,” the court ruled.
The high court order came in response to a petition filed by Joan Mascarenhas E D’Souza, a resident of Goa, challenging what she described as discriminatory prohibition imposed on her preaching ministry in her private property in December 2022.
The petitioner along with her husband Dominic D’Souza had been involved in a preach ministry over 23 years until the district administration imposed curbs alleging it was an attempt at religious conversion.
The division bench of Justice Valmiki SA Menezes and Justice M S Sonak that studied the records conclude that the police had failed to prove the allegations against the couple with reliable documents and held that prohibiting them from preaching their religion infringed upon their fundamental rights.
The prohibitory order infringed up on the woman’s “constitutional right freedom of religion, freedom of conscience and to freely profess, practice and propagate her religion,” the court said.
“It further infringed upon her fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India by curtailing her right to express herself within the institutional building,” it added.
Hong Kong court rejects Jimmy Lai’s plea for foreign lawyer
A Hong Kong court has rejected a plea from Catholic pro-democracy activist and business tycoon Jimmy Lai challenging a government decision to deny permission for a foreign lawyer for his trial in a slew of criminal cases.
Lai, 75, had requested a judicial review last month after Hong Kong’s national security committee had advised the immigration chief to reject any future visa applications for his overseas counsel Timothy Owen, Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) reported on May 19.
Jeremy Poon, the High Court chief judge, in a written ruling, stated that Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) courts do not have jurisdiction over the national security committee’s work according to the security law.
“The HKSAR courts, as courts of a local administrative region, are not vested with any role or power over such matters of the [central government],” Poon said in his ruling.
Changing the Japanese narrative of parenthood
In recent years, Japan’s identity as the renowned land of manga art and high tech has taken a backseat to a pressing concern: the country’s declining birth rate. Various reasons have been attributed to this demographic challenge, such as economic concerns, changing societal norms, and the high cost of child-rearing.
However, a recent online survey on Twitter with tens of thousands of participants has shed light on a significant yet often overlooked reason: the negative portrayal of family life in Japanese society. The survey actually materializes what were mere conjectural concerns that we highlighted in a previous commentary.
It revealed a real apprehension, that the prevailing narrative of divorce and complaints about partners has discouraged many Japanese individuals from starting families. This in fact came as the second reason why people chose not to have a family, the first being a lack of self-confidence in “making one’s partner happy.”
The societal perception of family life plays indeed a crucial role in shaping individual decisions and desires regarding whether to start a family.
In Japan, the portrayal of family dynamics in media, especially news stories concerning famous showbiz personalities, but also the general online experience on Instagram, Facebook, etc. often focuses on negative aspects such as divorce, conflicts and dissatisfaction within relationships.
These are often seemingly harmless posts, or short videos that ridicule the choice of being a parent. Like a famous condom ad featuring a young man at a stage in life when he could be considering marriage. In this scenario, he finds himself in a situation where he encounters a loud and unruly child in a supermarket; he just stares at him thinking how grateful he is to have used a condom in his previous sexual encounters.
By presenting this relatable scene, the ad effectively conveys the message that contraception is not a means like it would have been in traditional advertising, of warding off venereal diseases, but is there to empower individuals to only think about the adverse consequences of being a parent.
Probe against Sri Lankan pastor for hurtful remarks
The Sri Lankan president has ordered a probe against a Protest-ant pastor for allegedly making controversial comments about Buddhists and followers of other religions.
President Ranil Wickremesi-nghe while announcing the probe on May 15 said the irresponsible statement by Pastor Jerome Fer-nando, whose followers include famous cricketers, film stars and businessmen, can cause religious strife that may affect the harmony in the country.
The pastor is accused of mak-ing derogatory statements about Lord Buddha while addressing a gathering of members of his Born Again Christian church that was broadcast live on social media.
In his sermon, Fernando clai-med that every Buddhist needs Jesus while saying that Buddha was looking for light and hence was looking for Jesus.
He also said that Muslims can’t call Allah their Father while also going on to question why Hindus venerate animals.
“Why do they have a God that looks like an elephant? Why do they venerate cows?” the pastor questioned during the sermon. Fernando’s critics alle-ged that he had insulted Buddh-ism, Islam and Hinduism.
The New Bhikshu Peramuna, a group of Buddhist monks, and several other organizations com-plained to the Criminal Investi-gation Department to investigate the pastor’s statements.
Meanwhile, Pivithuru Hela Urumaya, an opposition party, also complained to the CID, demanding strict enforcement of the law against the pastor.
Poverty drives maternal mortality in the Philippines
Francisco Sales believes he could have saved the lives of his wife Gloria Operario and their unborn child during childbirth three years ago if he had enough money.
Gloria had a risky third pregnancy due to gestational diabetes and high blood pressure and needed special treatment in a good hospital, which the poor couple could not afford.
Just like Gloria, each year at least some 2,500 women die in the Philippines due to complicated pregnancy and childbirth, mostly because of poverty.
Pediatrician Jerilee Cledera says cases like that of 30-year-old Gloria are common. Cledera said babies whose mothers are diabetic may have excessive birth weight, making normal delivery almost impossible. A cesarean section delivery is advised in such cases, she said.
But a C-section costs about 120,000 pesos (US$2,154) in the Philippines and Francisco’s family, who live on the outskirts of Naga City, could not afford it.
Francisco, 32, earned some US$325 monthly from his carpentry work and Gloria earned some US$200 from a convenience store she managed.
The income was hardly enough for the family with two children and financial struggles forced them to avoid expensive medical check-ups for Gloria. For emergencies, they depended on a local health center in their neighborhood.
For the delivery, just like in the past two childbirths, they engaged a midwife to conduct the delivery at home in August 2019.
Blasphemy bail ruling wins praise in Pakistan
Christian leaders in Pakistan have cheered a court granting bail to a local Christian woman and a Muslim man accused of blasphemy less than a month after their arrest, terming it a new record and a hopeful sign.
Usually, it takes years for bail to be granted in such cases, often because judges fear possible retribution from an angry public.
Musarrat Bibi, a mother of three, and Muhammad Sarmad, a gardener, were arrested on April 19 for allegedly burning pages of the Quran while cleaning a girl’s school in a village in Punjab province.
Bibi, an office assistant at the school for more than a decade, was accused of burning the Quran, while Sarmad was accused of helping her with the cleaning up and burning of the waste. Both were released on bail on May 13.
“Sometimes bail in a blasphemy case, particularly involving Christians, can take up to two decades depending on the hype, investigation officer and attitude of the judge,” said Human rights lawyer Nadeem Anthony.
“Bibi and Sarmad are lucky to get bail in a blasphemy case in record time,” he told UCA News.
“It should set a precedence for other judges”
He said someone accused of blasphemy is seen as a sinner and public anger in the Muslim-majority nation overshadows justice. “Few judges show bravery against public pressure,” the lawyer explained.
Bail delaying tactics include presenting incomplete files or judges being absent during the court hearing.
The latest bail verdict “gives hope to Christians in Pakistan,” said Cecil Chaudhry, South Asia deputy team leader of Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
“It should set a precedence for other judges to follow when hearing cases of blasphemy,” said Chaudhry, former executive director of the Catholic Bishop’s National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP).
Advocate Lazar Allah Rakha, who represented Bibi in court told UCA News, “there was no case to begin with” regarding the allegations against Bibi and Sarmad.
The complaint was filed four days after the alleged incident. “There was no deliberate intention to burn the Holy Quran. The lives of two illiterate persons were endangered due to an accident,” said Rakha, a Christian.
Archbishop has five guard dogs and travels with armed escort
The archbishop of one of the world’s most dangerous dioceses has described how he has to have five guard dogs to protect him at home, and travels around with an armed escort. Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso of Kaduna in northern Nigeria gave Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) a glimpse into life in his diocese in northern Nigeria.
He said that eight of his priests had been kidnapped in just three years – three were killed, one is still missing and the others were freed. He added that one of the murdered priests in particular had shown tremendous courage.
The archbishop said: “While they were pointing an AK-47 at him, he told his attackers that they should repent of their evil, so they killed him.”
Life is increasingly dangerous for Christians in many parts of Nigeria, as highlighted in ACN’s 2022 edition of Persecuted and Forgotten?
Called to serve: Archbishop Justin Welby crowns King Charles and Queen Camilla
The Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem joined Anglican pri-mates from every corner of the British Isles on Saturday for the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III at Westminster Abbey. Nine bishops from the Church of England also took part in the liturgy, which was des-cribed by a spokesman for Lam-beth Palace as “a Christian act of worship that honours the ancient tradition of anointing and crowning Monarchs.
The Archbishop of Canter-bury, Justin Welby, led the ser-vice, which was set in the context of a Eucharist. In his sermon, which reflected the theme “Called to Serve.”
“We are here to crown a King, and we crown a King to serve,” Archbishop Justin said. “What is given today is for the gain of all. For Jesus Christ announced a Kingdom in which the poor and oppressed are freed from the chains of injustice. The blind see. The bruised and broken-hearted are healed.
“That Kingdom sets the aims of all righteous government, all authority. And the Kingdom also sets the means of all government and authority. For Jesus doesn’t grasp power or hold onto status.
“The King of Kings, Jesus Christ, was anointed not to be served, but to serve. He creates the unchangeable law of good authority that with the privilege of power comes the duty to serve.
“Service is love in action. We see active love in our care for the most vulnerable, the way we nurture and encourage the young, in the conservation of the natural world. We have seen those priorities in the life of duty lived by our King.”
The Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, the Most Revd Dr Hosam Naoum, presented the chrism oil for anointing to Archbishop Justin. The oil was made from olives taken from trees growing in two monasteries on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. The oil was blended and co-consecrated by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Theophilus III and Archbishop Hosam.
The King was anointed on his head, hands and breast in a sacred moment shielded from public view.
After this, various regalia and items from the collection of Crown Jewels were symbolically presented to the King.