Members of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) have lauded corruption “whistleblowers” in South Africa.
In a statement shared with ACI Africa on September 1, SACBC members liken entities and persons who have exposed corruption, including civil societies and activists to John the Baptist.
“We gratefully acknowledge your contribution to the disclosure of corruption in government departments, municipalities, and state-owned companies heard by the Zondo Commission,” they say.
Catholic Bishops of the three-nation Conference, including Botswana, Eswatini, and South Africa express their support for those who have denounced the vice of corruption, saying, “We stand with whistleblowers who have raised concerns about the delays being made by the National Prosecution Authority in holding to account the people and the businesses that the Zondo Commission recommended for prosecution.”
“Successful prosecution in cases of corruption has often been made possible through your contribution as whistle-blowers. You are a threat to those whose god has become their stomachs and are doing their best to let corruption define the character of our country. Thank you for standing up against them,” SACBC members say in the statement following their August 14 to 18 plenary.
Catholicism is being extinguished In Nicaragua
Nicaragua’s seizure of the Jesuit-run Central American University in Managua on Aug. 16 was only the latest episode in the government’s five-year campaign to silence the Catholic Church.
Described by President Daniel Ortega’s regime as a “center of terrorism” for having attempted to shield student protesters during widespread anti-government demonstrations in 2018, the university has had its buildings, bank accounts and even its furniture seized. If past practice is any guide, it will soon be either shuttered or run by the state, with faculty and curriculums censored by the Sandinista government.
Since 2018, Catholic priests and laity critical of the government have been harassed, exiled, imprisoned, tortured and murdered. The regime has shut down more than 700 nonprofits and nongovernmental agencies, including the Catholic charity Caritas and the Red Cross.
This year, the government prohibited more than 1,000 Catholic processions during Lent and Easter. Priests were barred from anointing the sick, conducting baptisms and celebrating Mass. Even saying the rosary is now considered a subversive act in Nicaragua.
In February, Bishop Rolando Alvarez was arrested and sentenced to 26 years in prison for “anti-government activities” after he criticized the regime’s closure of Catholic radio and television stations. The religious order of nuns founded by Mother Teresa has been expelled from the country.
Pope tells Jesuits inclusivity, doctrinal evolution, synodality are crucial to Church
The Jesuit publication “La Civiltà Cattolica” publishes a transcript of the dialogue between Pope Francis and the Jesuits of Portugal during the Pontiff’s visit to Lisbon for WYD 2023. In the conversation, the Holy Father addresses a range of topics, sharing insights on the Church’s challenges and his vision for inclusivity, doctrinal development, and the Synod.
In an open dialogue with the Jesuits of Lisbon during his visit to Portugal for World Youth Day, Pope Francis engaged with them in conversation and covered a wide array of topics, sharing profound insights on the Church’s contemporary challenges and his vision for inclusivity, doctrinal progression, and the Synod. Central to the discussion was the theme of inclusivity. Throughout World Youth Day in Lisbon, the rallying cry for an all-embracing Church resonated powerfully with the words “Todos, todos” (Everyone, everyone), pronounced by Pope Francis as he stressed that the Church “has space for everyone.” He emphasized the pivotal importance of creating a space for all individuals, irrespective of their sexual orientation or gender identity, within the Church. This message continued to echo through his exchange with the Jesuits of Portugal.
Priest accuses Syro-Malabar bishops of ‘fabricating truths for gullible faithful’
In that letter, Pamplany defended Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the Syro-Malabar Church, and the other bishops who make up its governing synod, from critics in the Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly, the largest jurisdiction within the church.
Nun wins award for best reportage on Dalit, Tribal issues
A Catholic nun from southern India has won this year’s award for best reportage on Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe.
The Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA) that gives the annual award says it chose Sister Robancy A. Helen for authentically and consistently being the voice of people’s rights, especially the poor Dalits who are susceptible to exploitation and injustice.
Protests against papal delegate “deeply” saddening: Cardinal Alencherry
Syro-Malabar Major Archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry says the recent protests against Pontifical Delegate Jesuit Archbishop Cyril Vasil have deeply saddened the Church.
“The strength of the Church is unity,” asserted the cardinal on August 21, speaking after the opening of the third session of 31st Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church at Mount St. Thomas, the Oriental rite’s headquarters in Kakkanad, a suburb of Kochi, Kerala.
Joseph Gathia bags ICPA Award for Hindi Literature
Joseph Anthony Gathia, an author, journalist, and children’s rights campaigner, has been chosen for the Swami Devanand Chakkungal award for Hindi Literature instituted by the Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA) and sponsored by the Indore province of the Divine Word congregation.
Nun rape survivor resumes court appearance after nine years
A Catholic nun, who survived gangrape, has gone back to a court to give evidence after a gap of nine years.
The nun, who cannot be named because of legal reasons, appeared before the district and sessions judge court in Cuttack on August 16 and 17 to give evidence against 18 accused in the case.
However, her evidence could not be recorded as the Odisha government had not yet appointed a lawyer for her.
The court is expected to fix another date for recording her statements after the government appoints the lawyer.
The nun was 25 when she was gang-raped on August 25, 2008, after a mob ransacked and attacked Divya Jyoti (Divine Light) Pastoral Centre, one of the torched church institutions, where she served as a social worker. She had taken her final vows only a few months before.
The violence began August 24, 2008, a day after the murder of Hindu religious leader Laxmanananda Saraswati, and lasted four more months. The mayhem claimed more than 100 lives and reduced 395 churches and other places of worship to ashes. Nearly 56,000 people ended up displaced and destitute.
Hundreds of Pakistan Catholics celebrate Mass outside burned church days after mob attacks
Just four days after a mob of Islamist extremists burned down a Christian community in the Pakistani city of Jaran-wala, over 700 Catholics ga-thered to celebrate Mass out-side the decimated St. Paul Catholic Church on Aug. 20.
Despite the incredible de-vastation and widespread fears that another anti-Christian riot would break out, hundreds of Catholics turned to the Eu-charist following a mob attack that destroyed more than 30 churches and 800 homes.
“Most of the people were crying in the Mass,” one Chri-stian community leader told the Catholic relief group Aid to the Church in Need Interna-tional (ACN).
“It was a very painful time but a chance to share with one another their sense of loss and sadness,” said the Christian, who was not identified by ACN out of safety concerns.
What happened? On Aug. 16, a riot of hundreds of Mus-lims – reported by some as thousands – broke out in the Christian portion of Jaranwala in Pakistan’s northeastern Punjab province.
The anti-Christian mob had broken into a frenzy after two Christians, Rocky Masih and Raja Masih, were accused of profaning the Quran and insu-lting Islam. Disrespecting the Quran is a crime punishable by life in prison in Pakistan.
Before a formal police in-vestigation could begin, a crowd of Muslims, reportedly spurred on by an extremist group called “Tehreek-e-Labbaik” went on a rampage through the Christian district.
For young Indians and Pakistanis, meeting in Lisbon for the WYD is a ‘unique experience’
World Youth Day is a “unique experience” that allows people to get to know others from all over the world. Above all it favours relations between people of nations, often in conflict with each other.
This is the case for Indian and Pakistani Catholics, says Godfrey Malu, who hails from the Archdiocese of Bombay (Mumbai). So far, during his stay in Lisbon, he “met some young Pakistanis” who were “really happy to meet us”.
“We Indians and Pakistanis got together and took pictures,” he told AsiaNews, “showing that we are one body” of the Church. “Although we come from different nations (both nuclear powers), we are one,” he added. This enables us to “live a unique moment and reach out to one another.”
The young Catholics from Pakistan and India are but some of the million-strong sea of young people from around the world, meeting from 2 to 6 August in Lisbon, after heeding Pope Francis’s call to take part in the 37th World Youth Day.
Since his first meeting with Portuguese authorities, the pontiff has renewed his appeal for peace and the search for new ways of coming together and engaging in dialogue, even where walls and war keep people apart.