“You are truly blessed! The Lord is with you,” Gabriel the Archangel tells Mary, in a greeting traditionally called the Annunciation, which is remembered today, March 25, in many churches that follow a church calendar.
This week Pope Francis has reminded Catholics that Mary is honoured as the mother of Jesus but “not as co-redeemer”.
“Speaking at his general audience on March 24, the Pope said that while Christians had always given Mary beautiful titles, it was important to remember that Christ is the only redeemer,” the Catholic News Agency reported.
“He was addressing a theological debate about whether the Church should issue a dogmatic definition declaring Mary ‘Co-Redemptrix,’ in honour of her role in humanity’s salvation.”
Pope Francis has previously called that idea ”foolishness.”
Cardinal Schönborn: Same-sex blessings “will not be denied”
A senior Churchman in Vienna and member of the Vatican’s doctrinal watchdog, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, says he is “not happy with this statement from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith” – the watchdog’s official name – regarding the Church’s power to bless same-sex unions.
The Church has no such power, the CDF said on Monday of last week – and explained why in a detailed letter that secular media outlets and Catholic punditry have frequently either cherry-picked or largely ignored.
Cardinal Schönborn, Abp of Vienna, distinguished blessings given to persons from those given to couples or their unions, saying that the Church – like a mother – can and should bless persons who seek her blessing whenever possible.
“The Church, as is traditionally said, is Mater et Magistra, mother and teacher,” Cardinal Schönborn offered. “She has to teach, but she is a mother first,” he added, “and many people living and feeling same-sex [attraction] are particularly sensitive to this question: ‘Is the Church a mother to us?’ And they remain children of God,” he went on to say. “They, too, want to see the Church as a mother – and that is why this declaration hit many so parti-cularly painfully: because they feel that they are being rejected by the Church.”
The distinction of individual blessings from those given to unions, however, was one the CDF letter explanatory was also at some pains to make.
Iranian Convert Couple Face Prison Summons
An Iranian Christian convert couple faces summons for their prison sentences any day. Homayoun Zhaveh, age 62, and his wife Sara Ahmadi, age 42, were sentenced in November 2020 as members of a house church on national security charges.
Homayoun, who also suffers from advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease, was sentenced to two years, while Sara was originally given 11 years. In December 2020, their appeals reduced Sara’s prison sentence to eight years. All other aspects of their sentencing were upheld including bans on foreign travel and membership of social or political groups.
Intelligence agents originally arrested the couple along in June 2019 while they were on vacation with a few friends. Agents questioned everyone, but only Homayoun and Sara were detained. They released Homayoun after one month, while Sara spent 67 days in prison, 33 of those in solitary confinement, and faced intense psychological torture.
On March 14, the couple was notified that the enforcing agents would soon summon them to serve their prison time. With their appeal process completed, the couple waits anxiously and nervously for their summons.
First woman secretary of Vatican Biblical Commission
On March 9, Pope Francis appointed Spanish biblical scholar, Sister Nuria Calduch-Benages, as secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission. She expressed her surprise and gratitude in this interview with Vatican News.
Sister Nuria has dedicated her life passionately to the study of the Bible. She teaches Old Testament at the Pontifical Gregorian University and is a renowned ex-pert on Sacred Scripture. Hailing from Barcelona, Spain, Sr Nuria is a member of the Congregation of Missionary Daughters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. She has also taken part in the work of the Study Commission on the Diaconate of Women (2016-2019). She has been a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission since 2014. Her new term will last until 2025.
Among other positions, she is a guest professor at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, an assiduous collaborator of the Catholic Biblical Federation, a prominent member of specialized journals, serving on the scientific committee of the journal History of Women (University of Flo-rence) and collaborating on the series “Tesis y Monografías” pu-blished by Verbo Divino (Estella). In 2008 she participated as an expert in the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops focusing on “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.”
Sri Lanka announces burqa ban, to shut 1,000 madrasas
Sri Lanka will soon ban the burqa or face veil, a Cabinet Minister said on Saturday, as he announced the Rajapaksa administra-tion’s latest policy decision impacting the minority Muslim community.
Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekara said authorities would henceforth use the controversial Prevention of Terrorism (PTA) law — that human rights defenders have termed ‘draconian’— to deal with religious extremism, with wide-ranging powers to detain suspects for up to two years, to ‘deradicalise’ them.
At a media conference, Mr. Weerasekara said: “The burqa is something that directly affects our national security…this [dress] came into Sri Lanka only recently. It is a symbol of their religious extremism.”
One in 8 Russians plan to observe Lent this year
Almost one in eight Russians intend to observe Lent this year, and the proportion among Orthodox Christians reaches 17%, according to the findings of a VCIOM poll obtained by Interfax.
Asked whether they had heard about Lent, 51% of respondents said they had heard something, but did not know exactly on which dates it falls this year. Among those who are religious, such respondents accounted for 45%. Sixteen percent said Lent starts after pancake week, and 14%, or one in seven, said March 15. Nearly one-fifth of Orthodox Russians, or 19%, know the correct start date this year. Meanwhile, 22% are undecided as to whether to observe Lent. Among religious Russians, the proportion is 30%, the pollster said.
Pakistani courts reconsider blasphemy penalty cases
Christian human rights groups in Pakistan are urging local courts to reject Sharia punishments for the blasphemy accused in the Muslim majority country.
Last week, a Peshawar High Court bench issued notices to the attorney general for Pakistan and provincial advocate general over a petition seeking orders for the government to remove the option of punishment other than the death penalty for blasphemy from the Pakistan Penal Code.
The petitioner claimed the issue of an alternative punishment of life imprisonment had already been decided by the Federal Shariat Court, but it had not been implemented by federal and provincial governments. The option of life imprisonment was made defunct after a Federal Shariat Court judgement in 1991.
The Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) UK, a Christian charity dedicated to helping persecuted Christians in Pakistan, rejected the death penalty for blasphemy in a March 25 press release.
“It’s time to stop the misuse of the blasphemy law. We see every day how this law is being misused by individuals and religious groups to achieve their goals and settle their personal grudges, especially against religious minorities,” said Nasir Saeed, director of CLAAS.
“Several governments have pledged to stop its misuse, and even recommended 10 years imprisonment for a false accusation, but nothing has changed. Instead, voices against the misuse of the blasphemy law have been forced into silence.”
Kashif Aslam, Deputy Director of the Advocacy and Program National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), the Church’s human rights body, in Pakistan agreed.
“Clearly the judges are prejudiced. We are experiencing such attitudes from the beginning,” he said. “Instead of being driven by emotions, they should go by the book. We demand overall reforms in judicial system,” he told.
Hate speech the norm in Pakistan, church study claims
A new study published by a bishops’ commission highlights the psychological impact of hate speech on religious and sectarian minorities in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
“Hate speech in Pakistan is accepted as a norm. One of its immediate effects is that people experience a loss of self-esteem. There is a constant fear among minority community members regarding their security and survival. A Hindu student reported losing her interest in studies, claims the study titled “The cost of hate speech.”
It was based on 12 focus group discussions, held between February 2020 and February 2021, with about 200 individuals including Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Shia and Ahmadi in both educational institutes and public places around Punjab. Similar sessions will be conducted in urban and rural areas of the three other provinces.
The National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), the Church’s human rights body in Pakistan, launched its policy brief for Punjab in Lahore on March 17.
The commission made several recommendations including monitoring and regulating religious sermons and seminary curriculum, reforming the education system, a government policy on non-discrimination, a media campaign to pro-mote equality as well as federal and provincial committees to monitor hate speech.
According to Aila Gill, program coordinator of NCJP, this is the first time such data has been collected in the country.
“We have identified more than 50 hateful terms. A lexicon has been prepared with suggestive terminologies preferred by the different minority communities,” she told.
“Religious minorities generally don’t know derogatory hate speech experienced in daily life and have become immune to this common phenomenon. Most of them hide their religious identities and never report such incidents for fear of retaliation. They demand support from the majority community to register complaints against hate speech.”
Asia’s cardinals in choral appeal for peace in Myanmar
A new call for peace and an end to violence in Myanmar was launched together by 12 cardinals from different regions of Asia, through the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (Fabc), the body led by the Archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo as president.
The initiative echoes a similar message of solidarity that had already been sent in recent days by the Archbishop of Seoul, Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung. In the text – which we publish in full below – the 12 cardinals appeal to dialogue to find a way out, expressing particular closeness to Cardinal Bo: “The people of Myanmar we know are peace loving and only seeking an opportunity for progress. They have been law abiding and cooperating with all authorities. At the moment they only seek harmony and end to violence Asia is a continent of peace and of hope, of warm family bonds. We are one family. Peace is possible! ”
It is with deep sadness and great distress that we have been following the events in Myanmar. There is too much anger, too much violence, too much blood shed, too much suffering and pain inflicted on a peace-loving populace which only seeks unity, harmony, and an opportunity for progress in freedom. There have been repeated appeals for calm from the highest quarters. The United Nations Security Council unanimously appealed for a de escalation of violence. Pope Francis has made repeated appeals for peace, harmony, and justice. The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has called for “Dialogue, Reconciliation and Return to Normalcy.”
Pakistani lawmaker faces wrath for negating minorities’ persecution
A Christian lawmaker in Pakistan’s ruling party has drawn flak for rejecting a report on religious persecution in the country.
Shunila Ruth, parliamentary secretary for the ministry of religious affairs and interfaith harmony, faced criticism after she rejected an international re-port that said religious minorities suffered discrimination in the Islamic nation.
Last year, a 168-page report by the UK-based All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ahmadis narrated discrimination faced by their community in Pakistan.
Ruth rejected the report and announced to issue its rebuttal in a meeting last week in Islamabad.
“I feel more protected, safe, and peaceful in Pakistan than any other country of the world,” she stated.
The report, titled ‘Suffocation of the faithful – the persecution of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan and the rise of International Extremism,’ said “state-sponsor-ed” persecution against Ahmadis intensified following the formation of Pakistan.
It also noted how the denial of freedom of religion for Ahmadis has also led to the denial of freedom of religion for other communities including Chri-stians.
“Security improvements in churches include raised-up perimeter walls, complete with razor wire, surveillance cameras, bomb-proof gates, guards and patrols,” it stated.