Christmas Celebratory Again In Holy Land Amid Ongoing War; Patriarch Urges Pilgrims To Return
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Christians in Aleppo feel an uneasy calm amid rebel takeover of Syrian city
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Indian Cardinal opposes anti-conversion law in poll-bound state
12,000 gather as Goa starts exposition of St. Francis Xavier relics
Congratulations for publishing Fr. Cedrick’s letter in your latest issue. It is good that he, as a well known person had the courage to write it. I do not know how many bishops will read it or even respond through your columns. As you may remember, how many times in the past starting from my speech to the Plenary session of the CBCI in in 1975 March, I have made the same plea but with no result.P.T. Kuriakose
March 19, 2020: Earlier today, I announced that I will not be running for re-election as Washington State’s lieutenant governor and have decided to enter the Society of Jesus. This decision follows two years of careful and prayerful discernment.But because that process has been almost entirely private, I realize that this will come as a major surprise to my constituents and supporters. Many will be wondering why someone who has spent the last eight years climbing the political ladder and who has a not insignificant chance of acceding to the governorship next year, would trade a life of authority for one of obedience. I want to take a moment to discuss this decision as well as to express my profound gratitude to all those who have helped make these eight years in elected office so successful and rewarding.I was elected as state representative in 2012, state senator in 2014 and lieutenant governor in 2016. My reasons for running for those positions and my priorities in office were firmly rooted in Catholic social teaching, which places the poor, the sick, the disabled, the immigrant, the prisoner and all who are marginalized at the center of our social and political agenda. I knew from childhood what it was like to be excluded for being a blind kid from an Iranian family, and I have tried to use the power I have been given by the voters to ensure that we move urgently toward that day when no one will feel left behind or left out in our society.That is why, as a le
We, the Jesuit Major Superiors of South Asia, gathered for our Annual Conference in Godavari, Nepal (23-29 Feb, 2020), are appalled to learn of the recent communal violence in the capital city of Delhi where at least 42 people lost their lives and hundreds have been wounded. All the more shocking are the reports of the apparent complicity of the police forces in the violence, and the inexplicable postponement of legal procedures for four weeks.The concerned citizens know that the hate speeches and divisive politics of the recent elections in Delhi, the all-pervasive hate-politics and mob lynching of the last one decade and the attempts to appropriate ‘nationhood and religion’ for majoritarianism would all lead to unimaginable consequences for the body politic. We urge the Central Govt to immediately withdraw the hastily enacted draconian and discriminatory CAA and NRC and initiate a process of dialogue with all concerned.Meanwhile we invite all concerned citizens, especially the Indian Jesuits and our Institutions, i) to continue serious study and research on the ramifications of CAA and NRC for the concepts of nation, citizenship and the Constitution, ii) to join anti-CAA protest movements whenever and wherever possible, iii) to support rescue works in the violence affected areas, iv) and to initiate reconciliations among peoples and religions.We pledge to protect the integrity of the Constitution and to preserve the ethos of our nation that was shaped by the
Looking at the mood of the country and the sad state of affairs, I find myself failing to repeat the words of Christ on the Cross: “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.” The non-violent protests and repeated representations of peace-loving people to the Government about the rampant persecution, violence and brutal murders of innocent people by divisive and communal forces under the open eyes of the administrators and custodians of law and security have fallen on deaf ears.The communal forces have been let loose to do what they want and that their challenge threatens the ancient spirit of secular and pluralistic India. While tolerance is a basic tenet of all religions, including Hinduism, intolerance has become the hallmark of fundamentalist “Hindutva” forces that spread venomous hostility towards minorities, Dalits and tribals. Their systematic attacks on minorities have increased alarmingly in the recent years. They are making a mockery of the Rule of Law. The Government is watching disinterestedly. One cannot but doubt the secular credentials of the Government. “Justice delayed is justice denied.”The world has witnessed too much bloodshed in the name of religious fundamentalism. To cite a few examples: the crusades in Europe, the Inquisition in the Middle Ages, the massacre of the Jains and Buddhists in south India, the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, the destruction of the Babri Masjid, the brutal burning of Rev. Graham Staines a
“By Ram Rajya I do not mean Hindu Raj. I mean by Rama Rajya Divine Raj, Khudaki Basti or the Kingdom of God on Earth” Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi [1].At the heart of the visceral animosity that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Hindu Mahasabha (HMS) and all the affiliates have against Gandhi is his deep, reasoned and passionate commitment to a composite Indian nationhood. His writings in Young India and Harijan are well-documented as also is his subsequent clarity on the issue which is unequivocal.Faced with the growing appeal of communalists across the religious spectrum, in the early-mid 1900s, Gandhi remained firm in his commitment to equal citizenship based on human rights and dignity. His equally deep commitment to reform in a caste-ridden Hindu Order also led him to launch campaigns for the dignity and place of those deemed by a discriminatory caste hierarchy as “untouchables’ and in his way of assimilation name them ‘Harijan’ (‘Creation of God.’ While his approach to the caste system and its attendant discriminations, not least his compromises and strategy around the Vykom Satyagraha [3] has rightly irked those committed to a more radical approach to the caste question, the fact that Gandhi, among others made central to the issue of mass mobilization dignity for those hitherto treated by caste Hindu society as invisible and worse, was an equally weighty factor behind this animosity of the Sangh....Later, on January 27, 1935, Gandhi addre
