A Philippine legislator has filed a bill in Congress to make the reading of the Bible mandatory in the country’s public schools.

House Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante Jr., a pastor of the Metropolitan Bible Baptist Church and Ministries, noted that Filipinos seem not to have truly appreciated the “relevance, importance and power” of the Bible.

“If only Biblical discipline, principles and standards are taught and inculcated in the minds of our children, there would not be so many problems of leadership, governance and peace and order,” said the legislator.

In filing the bill, Abante said it is best to strengthen the “moral, spiritual, ethical, intellectual and social character and personal discipline” of young people while they are in school.

Under House Bill 2069, the subjects English and Filipino, in public elementary and high school, shall include the reading, discussion and examination of the Bible.

Abante said the Bible should be read and studied because religion is allowed to be taught in public elementary and high schools where literary works such as Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are also being read and studied.

In the case of Muslim students, English and Filipino subjects should also include the reading, discussion and examination of the Quran, the bill provides. Bishop Arturo Bastes of Sorsogon, former head of the Episcopal Commission on Biblical Apostolate of the bishops’ conference, supported the proposal. “This is very good. I hope this gets approved. It is good news for us to read the Good News of God,” he said.

Father Conegundo Garganta, executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Youth, also welcomed the bill describing it as “great news and a relevant act.”

A Catholic bishop of Pakistan has expressed concern over the confrontation between Pakistan and India over the disputed region of Kashmir and wishes the leaders of both the nuclear-armed nations take on the path of dialogue to save humanity.

“Atomic weapons will never be needed or used if world leaders remain firm in their commitment to build global peace,” Arch-bishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore said, during a ceremony to commemorate the historic meeting between St Francis of Assisi and Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil of Egypt, 800 years ago in Egypt 1219.

The ceremony took place amidst high tensions between India and Pakistan, particularly over the disputed region of Kashmir.

Recalling that both countries have nuclear weapons, Archbishop Shah urged Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India and Imran Khan of Pakistan to “choose the path of dialogue to establish peace and save humanity.”

The ceremony, held in St Mary’s Catholic Church, was organized by Fr Francis Nadeem, the custodian of Mariam Saddeeqa run by which is under the Capuchin Friars Minor of Pakistan. “Today we celebrate the 800th anniversary of the meeting between St. Francis of Assisi and the Sultan of Egypt Al-Kamil. We promise to become means of peace in our society, just as these two great men of history have shown us the way of dialogue,” Fr Nadeem said.

The celebration started by ringing peace bells, an act of unity and solidarity with the international community of Europe. Archbishop Shah who returned from Belgium said that on the Feast of St Francis on 4 October at 2 p.m., peace bells would be rung in 40 countries of the world. He thus urged that all the priests and faithful ring the church bells for peace.

The tallest statue of the Virgin Mary in the world is about to be ready in the Philippines.

Almost 100 meters (315 feet) high, the statue is expected to be ready in 2021, in time for the 500th anniversary of Christianity’s arrival in the Philippines

The Marian monument-sculpture-shrine of The Mother of All Asia, also called “The Tower of Peace,” is located at the Montemaría (literally, “Mary’s Mount”) Pilgrimage Site in Batangas City, some 310 km south of the national capital of Manila.

It was designed by the renowned (and recently deceased) constructivist Filipino sculptor Eduardo De Los Santos Castrillo.

The Mother of All Asia will then be the tallest statue of the Virgin Mary in the world, a position now occupied by the Venezuelan 153-feet-tall “Our Lady of Peace” statue, which was built in 1983.

The Montemaría Pilgrimage site’s centrepiece, this image of the Virgin Mary is dedicated to the unity and peace of all peoples and countries in Southeast Asia.

Redemptorist missionaries have improved the religious and material lives of tens of thousands of ethnic groups in Vietnam’s Central Highlands despite challenges and sufferings for half a century.

Thousands of Catholics from the ethnic Jarai, Bahnar and Kinh majority groups attended special ceremonies on Oct. 14-16 to commemorate the start of the Redemptorist mission in Gia Lai province 50 years ago.

Bishop Alosius Nguyen Hung Vi of Kontum presided at the Mass held at Pleikly Evangelization Centre, the cradle of Catholicism for Jarai villagers.

Bishop VI said the local Church was extremely grateful to Redemptorist Missionaries who volunteered to live among ethnic villagers, brought the Good News to them, translated the Scriptures into their languages and helped them conserve their cultures.

He said at first only four Redemptorists worked with the Jarai group and later with other ethnic groups.

Caritas  Sri Lanka has stressed the need for only candidates committed to restoring national unity to stand for the presidency next month. The charity-linked Catholic National Commission for Justice, Peace and Human Development said it had studied various aspects of the current political scene, plus a range of social and economic issues faced by the people.

The commission wants to see the introduction of an action plan to combat ethnic and religious conflicts as well as concerns about missing people and enforced disappearances.

“Draft a new constitution in consultation with all stakeholders in order to ensure devolution of power and to fulfil the aspirations of all communities,” urged the Catholic charity, which is also the national secretariat of the Justice, Peace and Human Development Commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.

“Establish an independent judiciary supported by a culture of justice and transparency,” it continued, “and introduce good governance in all state and private institutions, with proper monitoring mechanisms, and restore law and order in the country.”

Police in northern Bangladesh have found a prominent Catholic mystic singer safe and sound nearly a month after his mysterious disappearance. Subas Rozario, 40, was found alive and well in Hari Narayanpur, a village in Kushtia district, on Oct. 18, police said. The village is close to the mausoleum of Lalon Shah, a 19th century Bengali musician, philosopher, humanist and social reformer who popularized baul (mystic) philosophy and songs.

A Christian MP in Pakistan has slammed the ruling Justice party for rejecting his bill seeking to allow non-Muslim members of parliament to become president or prime minister of the country.

Naveed Aamir Jeeva, a Christian lawmaker of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, tabled the bill in the National Assembly.

The bill proposed amendment to Articles 41 and 91 of the constitution that bar Christians and other non-Muslim minorities from getting elected as head of state.

“A person shall not be qualified for election as president unless he is a Muslim of not less than 45 years of age and is qualified to be elected as a member of the National Assembly,” Article 41 states.

Article 91 reads: “After the election of the speaker and the deputy speaker, the National Assembly shall, to the exclusion of any other business, proceed to elect without debate one of its Muslim members to be the prime minister.”

The lower house blocked the Christian MP’s bill with a majority vote following objections from a minister known for hardline views on Islam.

Ali Muhammad, minister of state for parliamentary affairs, said: “Pakistan is an Islamic republic where only a Muslim can be elevated to the slots of the president and prime minister. The minorities are enjoying complete freedom and security and their rights are being protected in Pakistan.”

Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, a member of Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami, welcomed the government’s stance on the proposed amendment.

“No law against Islamic values and teachings can be passed, introduced or even debated in the parliament,” he was quoted by The News as saying.

The Christian lawmaker, however, said that he would continue to exercise his democratic right to introduce legislation.

“It was disappointing that the ruling party opposed my bill. We believe every Pakistani citizen irrespective of his faith or color has the right to become prime minister or president,” Jeeva told ucanews.com.

“If Christians, Hindus are other minorities enjoy equal rights, there should be no constitutional bar on them to lead this country.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has written a letter to Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena appealing for extra security for Catholic institutions.

It follows concerns that churches may face more attacks after the Easter Sunday suicide bombings of three churches and three hotels that killed 259 people and injured more than 500.

A senior Catholic priest said the easing of security at religious places was not a positive move and that the local Church had received information about impending threats.

He said Cardinal Ranjith had informed the president in writing that Catholic temples, shrines and public places are in danger of being attacked.

YasithaDevaka, a Catholic teacher from Kadana, said government officials had blamed each other for the loss. It was finally revealed that intelligence agencies had provided definite warnings of the April 21 attacks but no proper action was taken to prevent them. “The cardinal has warned of another attack on Catholic churches and has asked for tight security,” said Devaka.

Myanmar’s cardinal has called on the military and militias to show “mercy” on the poverty-stricken populations caught in the crossfire of the country’s ongoing ethnic conflicts. Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon also called out the country’s religious leaders for their “criminal” silence about the violence in the country.

“Not a single day passes without the heart wrenching news of innocent civilians being displaced or killed or maimed by the ongoing conflict in Lashio, other Northern regions and Rakhine State,” the cardinal said in an Oct. 1 statement.

“I had served as the priest and bishop in this area for almost 20 years. Most of these people are extremely poor and innocent people,” Bo continued. “Striving for basic needs is their daily unending struggle. No group had done any economic development for these people.”

Myanmar has been transitioning from a military dictatorship since Nobel Laureate Aung San SuuKyi’s National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in the 2015 general election.

Officials in Hebei province in northern China have sent religious organizations a notice that from now on they will have to comply with new stricter regulations. The chairman of one Catholic parish council told ucanews.com he considered the demand a serious violation of people’s rights.

The “Template for a Charter on Legal People in Religious Activity Venues” was released only recently.

The document says it intends to hold venues staging religious activities to the highest standards in accordance with the “General Provisions of the Civil Law of the People’s Republic of China”, the “Regulations of Religious Affairs” and the “Notice of State Administration of Religious Affairs and Ministry of Civil Affairs on the Issue of Applying for Legal Personnel at Religious Activity Venues.”

It requires all venues to formulate charters detailing their activities and include an extra section giving examples of actual situations.
The template sent to religious groups is highly detailed in its demands.