Police in a central Indian state have registered a fresh case of cheating and forgery against a Protestant bishop, who was dismissed from service last year following his arrest on charges of corruption and money laundering.
The Economic Offences Wing of the Madhya Pradesh state police registered on Sept. 3 a fresh case against P. C. Singh, former bishop of Jabalpur diocese of the Church of North India (CNI), a union of Protestant churches based in northern India.
The special wing dealing with economic offenses charged the former bishop and his aide Prem Massih with criminal breach of trust, cheating, forging documents, and criminal conspiracy while transferring the government land given on lease to the CNI.
The land in the heart of Jabalpur town reportedly carries a market value of 30 million Indian rupees (some US$361,000).
The CNI owns extensive land and properties across India inherited from the Anglican Church of the British era. The CNI was formed in 1970, uniting all the Protestant denominations active in northern India.
The CNI is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion and a member of the World Methodist Council.
In India, there is no fixed time frame for completing the trial. So, Singh’s case may take years to complete.
“Church leaders must stay above suspicion so that followers are not demoralized during the long trial,” said Daniel John, a Christian leader based in Madhya Pradesh.
7 Indian Christians get bail in ‘conversion’ case
The top court in a central Indian state has granted bail to seven Christians, including two pastors and a pregnant woman after they spent close to two months in jail for the alleged violation of the stringent anti-conversion law.
The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Sept. 4 granted bail to Pastors Anil Chouhan and Suresh Dawar and five others, including 28-year-old Durga Mangilal who is pregnant.
“They were trapped in a totally false case,” Pastor Jayakar Kristi, who is following the case, told UCA News on Sept. 6.
The pastors visited a village in the state to conduct a meeting, but “it was dubbed as a case of religious conversion,” he observed.
“Their arrest and incarceration is totally in violation of the provisions of the anti-conversion law,” Pastor Kristi explained.
The pastors and other Christians moved the High Court after two lower courts rejected their bail applications, he added.
Advocate Umesh Manshore, who appeared for the Christians, told the court that under the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, the case has to be filed by the person who was being converted or by his/her close relatives. “Whereas in this case, the case was filed by a stranger,” Manshore told the court.
The High Court in its order said, “It is a fit case to grant bail to the applicants.”
The court, however, asked the Christians to furnish a personal bond of Rs.50,000 (US$607) each. “This is a clear case of gross violation and misuse of the anti-conversion law,” said Daniel John, a Catholic leader based in Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh.
New talks open to end Syro-Malabar liturgy impasse
Representatives of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church’s Synod of Bishops met with clergy opposed to the introduction of a new liturgy, in a renewed effort to settle a dispute that eluded resolution for decades.
Vicars forane and members of the presbyteral council of the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese meet with representatives of the Syro-Malabar Church’s Synod of Bishops in Kochi, India, Sept. 7, 2023.
The Sept. 7 meeting in Kochi, southern India, brought together members of a committee appointed by the Synod of Bishops — the Church’s authoritative governing body — and senior priests of the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, who reject the new “uniform mode” of the Syro-Malabar Church’s Eucharistic liturgy.
The meeting addressed differences over the uniform liturgy, which the Synod of Bishops endorsed in 1999 as a compromise between the Syro-Malabar Church’s ancient liturgy, in which the priest faced east, and post-Vatican II celebrations in which the priest faces toward the people.
Tensions have surged since 2021, when the Synod of Bishops called for the new liturgy’s adoption by all the Syro-Malabar Church’s 35 dioceses worldwide.
The Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese — the largest and most prominent of the 35 — was the only diocese where the majority of priests and lay people rejected the change, insisting that after more than 50 years of use, the liturgy facing the people was an established practice that should be recognized as a legitimate variant.
But supporters of the new liturgy — who include Pope Francis — argue that its universal adoption would enhance the unity of the Syro-Malabar Church, the second-largest of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome after the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Pope Francis sought to kickstart the introduction of the new liturgy in the archdiocese — which has around 500,000 members — through the appointment of an apostolic administrator in 2022 and a papal delegate, Archbishop Cyril Vasil’, in July this year.
Vasil’, a Slovak Jesuit who previously served at the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, made a stormy visit to the archdiocese Aug. 4-22, during which he issued an ultimatum to opponents of the new liturgy, which they defied.
Korean Catholics continue fight against coal power
South Korean government is moving ahead to launch commercial operation of the Samcheok coal power plant in Gangwon-do province in October defying opposition from civil society groups and Catholic Church.
Since October 2021, Catholic groups have been staging protests every month at Maengbang Beach close to the construction site.
The plant is expected to generate 2,044 megawatts of power. The government says the plant uses “green technology” with a focus on reduced emissions.
Catholic climate action groups joined hands with environmental groups to form an alliance, the Committee for Struggle Against Samcheok Coal Fired Power Plant.
The group has drawn local residents and people from other provinces who say the nature of Samcheok including the famed Maengbang beach would be in ruins when the power plant starts operating.
Media reports say parts of the beautiful beach turned black recently following the construction of a seaport to transport coal to the power plant.
“The crying sea over the praying people may soon turn into the tears of the people of Samcheok,” a protester said.
Environmental groups alleged South Korea’s heavy dependency on coal for power generation has become “a disaster” for mankind.
Pope Francis quotes Buddha at interreligious event in Mongolia
In a meeting with Mongolian Buddhists, Shamans, Shintoists, and other religious representatives, Pope Francis said Sunday that interreligious dialogue is “not antithetical to proclamation” but helps religious traditions to understand one another.
“With humility and in the spirit of service … the Church offers the treasure she has received to every person and culture, in a spirit of openness and in respectful consideration of what the other religious traditions have to offer,” Pope Francis said in a speech in Ulaanbaatar’s Hun Theater on Sept. 3.
“Religious traditions, for all their distinctiveness and diversity, have impressive potential for the benefit of society as a whole,” he added.
Pope Francis met with 12 religious leaders and representatives in the performing arts center on the Bogd Khan Uu mountain overlooking Mongolia’s capital city. The theater is built in the circular shape of a traditional Mongolian nomadic yurt dwelling called a “ger.” The rector of the only Orthodox church in Mongolia, Father Antony Gusev, represented the Russian Orthodox Church at the meeting.
In his speech, Pope Francis twice cited the “Dhammapada,” the most widely-read Buddhist text that is a collection of sayings of the Buddha.
Young Mongolian Catholics thrilled to join papal Mass
Some 2,500 people filled the Steppe Arena stadium in Ulaanbaatar two hours before Pope Francis arrived for the afternoon Mass on Sept. 3, his final full day of the four-day visit to Mongolia.
When the 86-year-old arrived, the atmosphere was already abuzz with excitement and enthusiasm with a significant presence of young people. In several pockets inside the stadium, various dances were taking place, each carrying a unique Mongolian cultural essence.
Although the tiny Catholic Church here has only some 1,400 members, Mongolia houses an estimated 40,000 Christians. Hundreds of Catholics also came from South, Korea, Singapore, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
As the crowd filled the external ring of the stadium, an unexpected scene greeted people – popcorn vendors, much like those found at any entertainment spot. The juxtaposition of the sacred and profane painted a picture of the unity in diversity that defines the Catholic experience in Mongolia.
Amid the buzz, Mungunbolor Gantumur, a 30-year-old graduate of Don Bosco School in Ulaanbaatar, says she plans to have a unique business.
“Now my dream is to write quotes from the Bible and sell them,” said Gantumur, who has embarked on a journey as an artist specializing in Mongolian traditional calligraphy.
Mungunbolor is not Catholic but said she is “learning to become Catholic,” guided by the encouragement of her uncle, who suggested she explore Don Bosco School.
Indonesia to replace ‘Isa Almasih’ with ‘Yesus Kristus’
The Indonesian government announced a change in the use of terms referring to Jesus Christ in official documents responding to longstanding demands of Christians not to use Islamic terms.
In an announcement on Sept. 12, the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, said that the government had decided to officially replace the term Isa Almasih with Yesus Kristus, the official term that Indonesian Christians use for Jesus Christ.
In official documents, such as in the list of national religious holidays, the government will use the term Yesus Kristus, he said.Bottom of Form
“The change in nomenclature was based on a proposal from the Ministry of Religion Affairs,” Effendy said during a conference.
He said the change of the nomenclature would be approved by a presidential regulation.
Saiful Rahmat Dasuki, Deputy Minister of Religion Affairs, said that the change was initiated by a proposal from Christians.
“This is a suggestion from Protestants and Catholics that the name of the nomenclature be changed to what they believe in,” he said.
In the official calendar, the government determines three national holidays related to Christianity, namely Christmas, Good Friday and the Ascension.
These Christian feasts have been associated with the term Almasih and are expressed as the birth of Isa Almasih, the Death of Isa Almasih and the Ascension of Isa Almasih.
Christians face violence over cow slaughter in Nepal
Christian groups in Nepal have appealed for peace and religious harmony in the Hindu-majority country, following a spate of attacks against their people in the past two weeks.
The growing “incidents of attacks and abuse, particularly targeting Christian minorities, is worrisome,” said Father Silas Bogati, vicar general of the Vicariate Apostolic of Nepal, which covers the entire nation on the foothills of the Himalayas.
At least seven churches were attacked in Nepal in the last two weeks, Christian leaders say.
The latest attacks happened on Sept. 5 in Nepal’s Lumbini province when two churches were vandalized in the southern Nawalparasi district of Lumbini, along the border with India’s Uttar Pradesh state, leaders said.
“We have been raising our voices for religious harmony. Nobody should harm the feelings or sentiments of others’ religion,” Bogati told on Sept. 7.
The harassment and attack against Christians began after a video went viral on social media on Aug. 15, claiming the visuals showed members of an indigenous community eating beef in a village near Dharan town in eastern Nepal.
The cow slaughter and beef eating have hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus, who consider the cow a revered animal, said Mohan Shrestha, spokesperson of Hindu right-wing party Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP or National Peoples’ Party).
“Some people from outside are inciting ethnic violence and disturbing the existing religious and social harmony in their attempt to push the country towards ethnic violence,” he said.
Hundreds of ethnic people in Nepal have become Christians in the recent past. Several Christian missionaries, including from South Korea, are active among ethnic groups, that local Hindus resist.
Catholic charity resumes bringing meals and hope to war-torn Tigray
Catholic charity providing thousands of free meals daily to schoolchildren in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, recently resumed operations after a brutal civil war precluded it from its mission for almost three years.
Since 2017, Mary’s Meals has worked with the Daughters of Charity in Tigray to bring food to schoolchildren there. Pre-2020 they fed an estimated 24,000 children a day, but the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent commencement of the country’s devastating civil war halted the program. Mary’s Meals had every intention of reopening in the fall of 2020 following COVID, but the start of the conflict precluded those plans.
“It was really heartbreaking to see that what we were expecting to be quite a joyous occasion in terms of the resumption of school feeding, children being welcomed back into schools and being able to return to what must have felt a bit more like normal life, suddenly being decimated by this terrible conflict,” Alex Keay, director of programs at Mary’s Meals International, told CNA.
Schoolchildren in Tigray, Ethiopia, eat biscuits and tea provided by Mary’s Meals. Copyright Mary’s Meals
Schoolchildren in Tigray, Ethiopia, eat biscuits and tea provided by Mary’s Meals. Copyright Mary’s Meals.
Prelate Defends Giving Communion to Muslim Sheikh
A pro-LGBT Brazilian archbishop is invoking Pope Francis’ apostolic letter on liturgical formation and the documents of Vatican II to justify his choice to administer Holy Communion to a Muslim sheikh at a funeral service.
“Every reception of Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ was already desired by Him in the Last Supper,” argues the archbishop of Londrina, Geremias Steinmetz, quoting Pope Francis in a clarification issued on the diocesan website on Aug. 30.
A video of Abp. Steinmetz giving the Sacred Host to Sheikh Ahmad Saleh Mahairi at the funeral of Cdl. Geraldo Majella Agnelo on Aug. 28 went viral on social media, sparking outrage among faithful Catholics.
In the video, Sheikh Mahairi, founder of the King Faisal Mosque in Londrina, accepts the host in his hand and leaves without consuming it.
The Muslim leader told the diocese’s vicar general that he consumed the Eucharist after sitting down in his pew.
In his clarification, the archbishop defends the sheikh’s reception of Communion on the grounds that “he participated in the Eucharistic celebration, as a friend, and, entering the communion line, received the Body of Christ.”
Steinmetz said that Mahairi was friends with the late Albano Cavallin, a former archbishop of Londrina, who had explained to the Muslim leader many years ago that “the Eucharist is the body of Jesus, who is considered to be a prophet of Islam.”
Quoting Vatican II’s Nostra Aetate, the declaration on the relations of the Church with non-Christian religions, Steinmetz noted that the Church regards Muslims “with esteem” since “they adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all-powerful, the creator of Heaven and earth, who has spoken to men.”
Muslims “take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God,” Steinmetz continued, quoting verbatim from Vatican II.