India’s top court has called forced and deceitful conversions “a serious matter” and sought assistance from the federal government’s top law officer in seeking steps to stop them.
“Religious conversions by force, allurement, etc… if that is happening then what should be done? What are the corre-ctive measures?” the Supreme Court bench of Justice M R Shah and Justice C T Ravikumar observed on Jan. 9 while discussing a petition.
The court also requested Attorney General R. Venkata-ramani to act “as amicus curiae or otherwise in any form” in the matter. The bench was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Ashwini Upadhyay, a lawyer and member of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), seeking a national law to check religious conversions through force and other fraudulent means.
The judges brushed aside questions about the maintain-ability of the petition and the credibility of Upadhyay raised by P. Wilson, government counsel of the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Wilson said the petition for a national anti-conversion law was politically motivated.
“Leave this matter to the legislature. There is no threat of conversion in our state. This is a politically motivated litigation. He [Upadhyay] has made Tamil Nadu, the state govern-ment, a party,” Wilson said, according to The Hindu.
The Court also directed the federal government to step in and make efforts to tackle the “very serious issue” of proselytization through deception, allurement and intimidation.
(See Focus)
Sri Lanka court orders payouts for Easter attack victims
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ordered former president, Maithripala Sirisena, as well as top defense ministry and intelligence officials, to pay compensation totaling 310 million rupees (US$ 885,670) to victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.
The Jan. 12 order from the top court pointed to a “reckless” intelligence failure, reported The Hindu. “A Victim Fund must be established at the Office for Reparation, which must formulate a scheme to award the sums ordered as compensation in a fair and equitable manner to the victims and families,” the order noted.
Former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara, former Ministry of Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, former head of State Intelligence Service Nilantha Jayawardene, and former National Intelligence Chief Sisira Mendis are among those ordered to pay.
Sirisena was ordered to pay 100 million rupees ($273,300) while the other officials were to pay a total of 210 million rupees ($574,000). The compensation has to be paid from their personal funds.
“The mastermind behind the attack has not yet been traced”
The Supreme Court has also ordered the federal government to pay one million rupees as compensation to each of the victims.
Father Sarath Iddamalgoda, one of a dozen petitioners in the case, said political leaders think they can do anything illegal but the judgment was a reminder that nobody is above the law.
The priest told UCA news that he couldn’t have wished for a better gift on his 78th birthday on Jan. 12.
“As a priest, I tried to seek justice for the victims. But the mastermind behind the attack has not yet been traced. We are waiting for him to be caught,” Father Iddamalgoda said.
Catholic Church vandalized in Chhattisgarh’
A violent crowed of tribal people vandalized a Catholic Church, a grotto of Mother Mary and the presbytery in Narayanpur district, Chhattisgarh state on Jan. 2.
The crowed armed with sticks and stones forced open the main gate of the Sacred Heart Church, in the heart of district headquarters and started to pelt stone at the Church.
They then forced into the Church through the main door and destroyed everything including the crucifix in the altar.
The crowed also vandalized the presbytery and a grotto of Mother Mary inside the Church campus.
Father Jomon TD, the parish priest told Matters India, “nothing is left everything is destroyed”.
“The more than five decades old Church”, the priest said, “was rebuilt five years back and now everything inside is ruined”.
Archbishop Victor Henry Thakur of Raipur has condemned the attack and sought action against those behind it.
“We are deeply saddened and pained by the destructive attacks on Christians and today’s atrociously vandalizing the Catholic Church and presbytery at Narayanpur in the Diocese of Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh,” archbishop said.
The crowed that attacked the Church was part of a protest under banner of Sarva Adivasi Samaj that is opposed to tribal people adopting other faiths especially Christianity and Islam.
Indian Christains up in arms against police survey
Christians in India’s Assam state have decided not to cooperate with the police, who began a survey aiming to gather details of Catholics, their churches, institutions, and religious conversions.
“Catholic parishes and institutions have refused to give details because the government and state chief minister himself has disowned it,” said Archbishop John Moolachira of Guwahati on Jan. 5.
Archbishop Moolachira said Christians see the circular, issued by the police department in Assam on Dec. 16, as discriminatory as it singles out activities of the Church.
Following the Christians’ objection to the circular, the state’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma disowned it during a press conference.
The leader of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party, which runs the state government, said his administration did not want any survey of the activities of Christians in the state.
“I completely dissociate myself from the [police] circular,” Sarma told reporters.
Archbishop Moolachira told UCA News that since the chief minister had disowned the circular, the Church has advised Christians not to give any details to the police survey.
“We came to know about the circular during the Christmas season. Along with several other Christian organizations, we objected to it. Later, the government disowned the circular,” he said.
The police across all districts in the state were told to comply with the circular by Dec. 22.
It wanted to collect data on the number of churches established in the last year, instances of religious conversions in the past six years, and the prime factors leading to conversions.
The circular also wanted the police to identify the people who are working for religious conversions.
“It is strange that when we raised this issue with the state chief minister, he said he had no knowledge,” Archbishop Moolachira said.
Indian inter-faith leaders slam attacks on tribal Christians
Some 300 people from different faith groups have joined for a prayer meeting on the side of a street in New Delhi to express solidarity with tribal Christians who were forced to flee their homes due to the violence in central India’s Chhattisgarh state.
Leaders from Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and Bahá¼í faiths prayed with lighted candles on Jan. 8 asking the government to end violence against Christians for their refusal to recant their Christian faith.
The Delhi Archdiocese’s Commission for Ecumenism and Interfaith Dialogue organized the program in front of its Sacred Heart Cathedral drawing attention to the plight of tribal Christians in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur and Kondagaon districts, who were forced to flee their homes due to the violence.
Non-Christian tribal groups, backed by right-wing fringe elements, are reportedly insisting that tribal Christians give up their faith and return to their traditional animist practices.
Nearly 18 villages in Narayanpur and 15 in Kondagaon were attacked, according to a fact-finding team.
The team, which visited the affected districts, said more than 1,000 people have been displaced due to the attacks and social boycotts which started in the second week of December in tribal-dominated Chhattisgarh state.
Efforts on to resolve Indian Church’s liturgical dispute
The Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church in southern India has initiated a dialogue process to resolve a decades-old liturgical dispute that has led to division and conflict between its hierarchy and the priests and laity.
A five-member delegation of bishops led by Archbishop Joseph Pamplany of Tellicherry held pro-longed closed-door discussions with representatives of the priests and laity of Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese, who have been on a warpath over the mode of celebrating Mass in the southern state of Kerala, on Jan 10.
A majority of priests and lay-people in the archdiocese, which is the seat of power of the Church’s Major Archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry, want to continue with the traditional mode wherein the priests say Mass facing the congregation. They refuse to accept the synod-app-roved form, in which the celebrant has to face the altar during the Eucharist.
“The initial talks were successful barring few contentious issues,” a Church source, who did not want to be named, told.
The contentious issues he mentioned include the demand for the removal of Apostolic Administrator Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, and reinstatement of the former Metropolitan Vicar Archbishop Antony Kariyil, besides allowing visiting bishops and priests to offer the synod-approved Mass in the archdiocese.
Vatican Suspends Bishop With Five Mistresses
The Vatican has suspended an Indian bishop accused of cohabiting with five mistresses and fathering at least two children.
Bishop Kannikadass A. William of Mysore, who has also been investigated for kidnapping, embezzlement, sodomy, and the murder of four of his priests, has been asked by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization to take “a period of absence from the ministry.”
A letter signed by Abp. Felix Machado, secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, announced that Bernard Moras, archbishop emeritus of Bangalore, would take over as apostolic administrator of the Mysore diocese on Jan. 7, 2023, at 6 p.m.
The letter, obtained by Church Militant, explained that the administrator would have the powers of “sede plena et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis” (full seat and at the behest of the Holy See) for “the ordinary administration and pastoral care of that local Church.”
Clerics from the Mysore diocese told Church Militant that Abp. Moras had left for Mysore and would be in the city on January 14 afternoon.
In WhatsApp groups, several priests from the diocese also highlighted the key role that Church Militant had played in exposing the rogue bishop, despite both the Indian Catholic media and secular media totally ignoring the story.
Father Gnana Prakash, one of the 37 priests who petitioned Pope Francis with evidence and photographs of William’s mistresses, illegitimate children, multiple bank accounts, kidnapping, assault and embezzlement, said he was assured that “truth had triumphed.”
Prakash told Church Militant that he wished to thank the Holy Father, apostolic nuncio Leopoldo Girelli, Cdl. Oswald Gracias and the apostolic commission that investigated William ”for strengthening the faith which was disturbed.”
Christian persecution to worsen in Asia in 2023
The persecution of Christians in seven Asian nations including China is predicted to increase in 2023 due to political pressure and radical religious views, says the latest report from UK-based Christian rights group, Release International (RI).
The RI report titled “Persecution Trends 2023” released on Dec. 28, 2022, highlights China, North Korea, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Malaysia, and Iran in the list of nations where Christians face persecution, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Jan. 4.
The group’s report highlighted the extensive control placed by Chinese President Xi Jinping on Christians in the nation labeling them as “unpatriotic” citizens through official messages.
“The government under Xi Jinping wants to control everything, and currently Christianity is not fully under its control [as it sees it],” the report said, quoting an unnamed source.
“Christianity is being pictured as unacceptable to an atheistic, communist country, rather than an acceptable but minority belief,” the report read.
The report highlighted the numerous reports of Christian leaders and followers arrested or summoned for questioning related to their activities in China.
The increasing number of Christians facing charges related to cults and illegal financial and religious activity was also pointed out as an indicator of Christian persecution in the Communist-ruled nation.
Japan’s unnecessary military budget hike a global worry
According to a Kyodo News poll conducted recently, 64.9 percent of Japanese citizens disapprove of a recently revealed plan to raise taxes to pay for a significant rise in the country’s defense spending.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration now has the lowest support level since it assumed power last year, at 33.1 percent.
The reasons are simple. While the military budget increase has been supported by some members of the government and a minority of citizens who either haven’t well comprehended the math behind such a tax hike (that is, more debt on the shoulders of their offspring’s already burdened by years of quantitative easing of monetary policy) or they just do not seem to care because they are in a position of power or above a certain income bracket that wards off all the financial worries in the world.
One of the main arguments in favour of the military budget increase is the need for Japan to strengthen its defence capabilities in the face of growing regional tensions and potential threats, especially from China and North Korea.
“Focusing on military spending, without considering any other strategies, could lead to a more aggressive foreign policy”
Sure Japan must be prepared to defend itself against the military ambitions of neighboring countries and deter potential adversaries from harming its national interests, but Japan has already one of the strongest militaries in the world.
This military budget hike is unnecessary, especially at a moment when the overall cost of living for the average citizen is increasing.
Also focusing on military spending, without considering any other strategies, could lead to a more aggressive foreign policy, which could potentially cause further tensions in the region and create uncertainty or concern among its neighbors.
As much as those in Europe regard the past as something far behind, just take a look at the leading role that Germany has in the hemisphere. Japan’s military history remains a sensitive issue in many parts of Asia, and we know some countries in the region may view an increase in Japanese military strength with suspicion or even hostility.
Many citizens feel they are already paying too much in taxes and that the government should look for other ways to fund the military budget. Some have suggested cutting unnecessary spending, or increasing taxes on high-income earners, rather than raising taxes on the general population.
During polls, Pakistan’s minorities get some importance
Pakistan practices religious segregation which puts minorities at the receiving end. With national polls around the corner in the South Asian nation, minorities are looking forward to some respite from the divide-and-rule strategy of the powerful religious and political elite.
Despite Islamization directly enshrined in the constitution, preventing equal rights for all citizens, political parties time and again have come out with pledges and action plans to end religious discrimination as polls near. However, they are seldom put into practice once a new government is cobbled together.
Former prime minister, Imran Khan, and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ruled the nation for three and a half years but kept none of the five poll promises listed in their election manifesto to empower minorities and protect their rights.
Khan, who survived an assassination attempt last year, had pledged to set up a legally empowered National Commission for Minorities (NCM), equal access to justice, laws against hate speech, minority quotas and the promotion of interfaith dialogue.