The Bangladeshi government’s unprecedented two-month sea fishing ban has hit thousands of fishermen in the country’s long southern coastal zone.

Lamenting their loss of livelihood and pondering alternative means of survival, many have taken to the streets to protest against the ban in recent days. Protesters have demanded the ban be shortened and fishermen get allowances from the government while they cannot go fishing.

The government imposed a ban on fishing from May 20 to July 23 in the Bay of Bengal in line with Marine Fisheries Ordinance 1883 (amended in 2015) to ensure the smooth breeding of fish.

In April, the Department of Fisheries sent out an order to fisheries officers in 19 coastal districts to implement the ban and take action against those who violate it.

Although a praiseworthy move in terms of conservation and increasing fish stocks, the ban has faced criticism for having no apparent rehabilitation program for thousands of vulnerable fishermen.

It came into force just weeks before Muslim-majority Bangladesh is to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr festival in the first week of June.

Cardinal Charles Bo of Myanmar has asked Church leaders in Asia to preach peace, not vengeance.

The 71-year-old president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences urged his fellow prelates to follow leader of India’s freedom struggle Mahatma Gandhi who is revered as the apostle of non-violence.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who was born on October 2, 1969, practiced non-violence to defeat British brutality and colonialism.

“Remember Gandhi who said ‘an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind,’” Cardinal Bo said while addressing delegates of the Bible and Evangelization seminar held on May 16 in Bangkok’s Camillian Pastoral Centre.

The meeting took place 25 days after bomb blasts in churches and hotels claimed 258 lives in Sri Lanka.

Cardinal Bo said Easter Sunday turned out to be Good Friday “for our brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka, who sit at the graves on Holy Saturday awaiting the streaks of hope of resurrection amidst the silence of the graves.”

The cardinal also lamented that Christians have become “the most persecuted religious group in the world,” especially in China, Egypt, India, Libya, Middle East, and Sri Lanka among other places.

“Christians have become the scapegoats,” the cardinal said. “In many Middle Eastern countries, the once flourishing Christian communities have disappeared. Too many innocents lost their lives and their blood cries out.”

“I come from a country where religious extremism saw violence and tears of the thousands,” said the cardinal recalling the words of Pope Francis, who visited Myanmar and left a mandate saying, “Do not repay hatred with hatred. Be an instrument of peace.”

The Asian Church leader called on Catholics and their leaders to become people of Hope.

“We cannot allow ourselves to be gripped by fear and paralysis. These are the moments the shepherds need to walk through the way of the Cross – never losing the hope of a better tomorrow – not only for our people but those who fell victim to evil,” Cardinal Bo said.

Duterte wants to reintroduce cumpulsory Reserved Officers’ Training Corps program in all schools

Child rights groups and church leaders in the Philippines have voiced concern over a move to reintroduce compulsory military training for schoolchildren.

The Lower House of Congress last week approved a bill making the Reserved Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program mandatory for Grade 11 and 12.

The proposed law states military training “shall apply to all students … in all senior high schools, both public and private.”

It added that the aim of the training program is to “instill patriotism, love of country, moral and spiritual virtues, and respect for human rights and adherence to the Constitution.”

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, however, warned against abuses that might result from the program.

A pastor accused of evangelizing in Sarlahi, a remote province in southern Nepal, was beaten by an angry mob on March 24 as religious minorities in the country face escalating levels of persecution. Meanwhile, the organizer of a retreat held in Kathmandu Valley from April 11-13 had to change the venue at the last minute due to threats from Hindu extremists.

Another prayer service scheduled for April 13-14 at the Jesuit run St Xavier school in Patan, Nepal’s third biggest city, also changed venue after Hindu delegations reported that the school was acting as a venue for proselytizing.

Proselytizing and religious conversion are still legally prohibited in Nepal, which began admitting foreign missionaries in the early 1950s but remains heavily committed to ensuring there are no threats to Hindus. Calls to dilute or scrap the law have been surfacing for years.

Hindus represent 80 percent of the population. Buddhists make up 11%, Muslims 4%, and Christians a meagre 1-2%.

The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue issued a message addressed to Muslims on the occasion of Ramadan, which began on 5 May, and for the Eid al-Fitr, which ends the Islamic holy month of fasting.

Titled ‘Christians and Mu-slims: Promoting Universal Fraternity Dear Muslim Brothers and Sisters,’ the message is signed by Secretary of the Dicastery, Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, MCCJ.

The culture of dialogue between Christians and Muslims, it says, must go on and “promote every person’s right to life, to physical integrity, and to fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of conscience, of thought, of expression and of religion.”

“The month of Ramadan with its dedication to fasting, prayer and almsgiving, is also a month for strengthening the spiritual bonds we share in Muslim-Chri-stian friendship. I am pleased, therefore, to take this opportunity to wish you a peaceful and fruitful celebration of Ramadan.”

“Our religions invite us to remain rooted in the values of peace; to defend the values of mutual understanding, human fraternity and harmonious co-existence; to re-establish wisdom, justice and love” (cf. Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, Abu Dhabi, 4 February 2019).

Keeping with the UAE’s vision for 2019 to be the ‘Year of Tolerance’, a group of expats took the opportunity to celebrate Ramadan and partake in a special Iftar inside a church in Ras Al Khaimah.

In what could be a first, the expats, mainly from Kerala, spent the evening celebrating Ramadan and partaking in the Iftar inside St Luke Anglican Church in the Northern Emirate.

St Luke Anglican Church is part of the Chaplaincy of Dubai and Sharjah with the Northern Emirates, within the Anglican Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf; one of four Dioceses which make up the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, which is also a Province within the world-wide Anglican Communion. There are five churches within the chaplaincy: St Luke Anglican Church, Ras Al Khaimah; St Nicholas Anglican Church, Fujairah; St Martin Anglican Church, Sharjah; Christ Church (Anglican), Jebel Ali; and the Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Dubai. Chief priests from three religious groups –Hindus, Christians and Muslims–came together to spread the message of peace, love and harmony among the expatriate community in the UAE.

The event titled “Vishu Easter and Iftar meet”, was organised by the RAK Knowledge Theatre in conjunction with other community groups, including the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre based in the UAE.

Pakistani authorities freed Asia Bibi, a Catholic woman acquitted of blasphemy, and she has flown to Canada to join her family at a secret address. Her release was confirmed on May 8 by Wilson Chowdhry of the British Pakistani Christian Association, who has been in almost daily contact with Ashiq Masih, Bibi’s husband.

In a statement sent by email to Catholic News Service, Chowdhry, who is based in London, said a British diplomat confirmed early on May 8 that Bibi had left her country.

“Ashiq has always remained hopeful of an imminent release from Pakistan, and we have both been shocked at how long it has taken,” he said. “Asia Bibi and Ashiq have remained resolute in their faith and have prayed daily for their release, and today God has answered their prayers,” he added.

Chowdhry said Bibi was “unwell” after being held in isolation for nearly a decade.

“She must be treated with utmost care and receive appropriate medical care, now she is free,” he said.

“The Pakistani government must ensure Asia and her family are compensated for the loss to their freedom and the fragile safety they have had to suffer under their auspices,” he continued. “Moreover, moves must be made to reform or abrogate the infamous blasphemy laws of Pakistan.”

Bibi’s release was subsequently confirmed by Saiful Malook, the lawyer who represented her in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

“She was reunited with her family in Canada more than five hours ago,” he told ucanews.com on May 8.

Bibi, a mother of five, was sentenced to hang for allegedly insulting Muhammad, the founder of Islam, under Section 295C of the Penal Code.

The effects of Sri Lanka’s Easter suicide bombings reverberated across two faiths. Catholics shut out of their churches for fear of new attacks, left with only a televised Mass, and Muslim women ordered to stop wearing veils in public.

Many across the nation knelt before their televisions as Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the Archbishop of Colombo, delivered a homily before members of the clergy and the country’s leaders in a small chapel at his residence in the capital. Meanwhile the tension remains high for the Christian community. Card. Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, after refusing the armoured car made available by the government, announced the reopening of the churches from May 5, with the celebration of Mass.

The Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Albert Malcolm Ranjith, condemned the deadly attacks on churches and luxury hotels on Easter Sunday (April 21) in a series of bomb blasts that claimed at least 290 lives and leaving more than 500 people injured.

The police said that it was the worst violence to hit the island since its devastating civil war ended a decade ago in 2009.

Cardinal Ranjit urged Sri Lankans not to “take the law into their own hands” after a series of explosions targeting churches and people hotels.

“I condemn, to the utmost of my capacity, this act which has caused so much death and suffering,” he told Fides.

He also urged people to donate blood to help the injured and pray for their speedy recovery. It is so sad, so tragic and shocking. The dastardly attack was mainly on Christians in churches and others in hotels.

“We are saddened for all those who loved lives in this violence. Our prayers are for each of them,” the Cardinal said. One of the explosions was at St Anthony’s Shrine, a Catholic Church in Kochcikade, Colombo, a tourist landmark.

A second blast hit at St Sebastian’s Church during Easter Mass, killing dozens. Pictures from the site showed bodies on the ground, blood on the church pews and a destroyed roof. Soon after the first two church blasts, police confirmed that the Zion Church in the east coast town of Batticaloa had been hit, along with three high-end hotels in the capital the Cinnamon Grand, the Shangri-La and the Kingsbury.