Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany, an Indian catholic religious congregation, on Jan. 23 added four Tanzanians to its fold.
Novices Clara Mariamu, Anitha Fadhila, Bernadeta Nonkondo and Veronica Mamue pronounced the first vows at a function in Divine Mercy Church in Mwanga, a town in northern Tanzania at the foot of the north Pare Mountains.
Sister Rose Celine, superior general of the Mangalore-based congregation, also known as the Bethany Sisters, received the vows from their first Tanzanian members during a Mass officiated by Bishop Rogath Kimaryo of Same.
Local priests joined those from India’s Mangalore diocese who have been working in the diocese of Same for decades concelebrated the Mass.
The ceremony coincided with the 146th birth Anniversary of the congregation’s founder, Servant of God Raymond Francis Camillus Mascarenhas. The gathering of about 300 people danced to the rhythm of Bethany Anthem during the entrance procession according to the custom of the Tanzanian culture.
Also present were Sister Lillita, a general councillor of the congregation, and many other religious sisters.
After the profession, the congregation sang the Magni-ficat, the song Mary from the Bible, thanking God for their gift to Bethany and to the Church.
Sister Celine said the new members are the fruit of the labour of their sisters in Tanzania Mission, which was started in 2013.
Dumka Christians mark Father Stan’s 100 day in prison
Christians in Jharkhand state’s Dumka town on January 15 took out a candle light procession to pray for Jesuit Father Stan Swamy, who has completed 100 days in a Mumbai prison.
They prayed and walked with posters demanding the release of the member of the Jamshedpur Jesuit province.
“We demand his release as he is innocent,” said Daniel Hembrum, a lay leader who joined the procession. We believe he was falsely accused by the vested interested people as he worked for the welfare of the tribals in Jharkhand,”he added.
Hindu radicals storm Catholic media centre in Indore
A group of Hindu hardliners on January 26 stormed a Catholic media centre in the central Indian city of Indore for allegedly conducting religious conversion program.
“By 6 pm, the premises were completely free of the trouble makers and it’s peaceful now,” says a message from Divine Word Father Babu Joseph, director of Satprakashan Sanchar Kendra (Centre for the Light of Truth).
Father Joseph, who was a former public relations officer of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, says things were brought under control with the presence of the police.
Satprakashan Sanchar Kendra, a regional media center, is managed by the Indore province of the Divine Word Society. It broadcast on YouTube channel Radio Veritas Hindi programs, besides training in media and media related masters.
Narrating the day’s incidents, Father Joseph said a group of people were holding their prayer service at the center.
Christians face a climate of fear in six Asian countries
Christians in six Asian countries live under extreme persecution where feudal, oligarchic, authoritarian and theocratic governments call the shots, says the latest report by a Christian advocacy group.
The 2021 World Watch List, compiled by the US-based Christian advocacy group Open Doors, says North Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Iran and India are hotbeds of Christian persecution in Asia.
These countries have been occupying positions ranging from first to 10th for global Christian persecution since 2015, according to the report released on Jan. 13.
Christians in these nations are harassed, discriminated against and put to death for their faith because the majority community and authoritarian governments view Christianity as a relic of white privilege and a symbol of Western colonialism, the group said.
Except in North Korea, where the communist party’s diktats run riot, governments in the other five countries are remote-controlled by hardliners and conservatives who fear that Christianity is always susceptible to external influences and use it as a ploy to mobilize the majority against the Christian minority, the report said.
Of late, violence in the form of abduct-ions, forced conversions and sex attacks perpetrated against Christian women go unnoticed and unreported as the governments and law-enforcement agencies, including the legal system, openly appease the majoritarian mob. Less surprisingly, in countries such as Afghanistan, Yemen, India and Pakistan, the fringe elements act as the mainstream and inflict horrific abuses on Christians, the report said.
Christians in the worst-hit Asian countries are holed up in harsh labour camps where forced labour, torture, persecution, starvation, rape, forced abortion and sexual violence have become the order of the day.
Moreover, extrajudicial killings are staged when it suits the fringe elements and governments to enter the good books of the majoritarian mob after molding the political narrative of the country to suit violence.
Pakistani Christians spread message of unity
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was observed by the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), the human rights organization of Pakistan’s Archdiocese of Kara-chi. Celebrated from Jan 18-25 since 1908, this year’s unity week had a special theme of “Abide in my love… You shall bear much fruit” (John 15:17).
The role of the NCJP in the community was highlighted by Christian leaders of different denominations, lawyers and journalists.
Father Saleh Diego, director of the NCJP and vicar general of the Archdiocese of Karachi, said it was the desire of Jesus mentioned in the Bible that “they may be one,” noting that “we must keep in our minds St Paul’s words that we all are different parts of the same body and if there is a pain in any part of our body, our whole body feels it.”
“All Christians, united and bonded in Jesus’ body, must feel the pain of each other and be united. If someone cuts himself, he actually cuts himself from the Body of Christ,” he added.
Kashif Anthony, a rights activist, said the first week of unity was celebrated in the small chapel of Atonement Franciscan Convent of the Episcopal Church, located on a remote hillside outside New York City.
The dates of the week were proposed by Father Paul Watson, co-founder of the Gravmoor Franciscan Friars, keeping in mind the feast of the Confession of St Peter on Jan. 18 and concluding with the feast of the Conversion of St Paul on January 25. “We must keep in our minds and practice ecumenism in our lives in which Christians belonging to different denominations work together and develop closer relationships and promote Christian unity among their churches,” Anthony said.
Cardinal tackles Sri Lanka’s environmental destruction
At the start of this year, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo, the outspoken leader of the Sri Lankan Church, addressed environmental issues in his archdiocese regarding Muthurajawela, a wetland 30 kilometres north of Colombo. This marsh-land is notable for its unique and highly diverse ecosystem and is listed as one of the 12 priority wetlands in Sri Lanka.
Muthurajawela, which translates as “Swamp of Royal Treasure,” has a long history of 700 years. It covers 4,390 acres and while only 700 acres are ear-marked for development, the project will have a drastic effect.
Prominent environmentalist Ven. Pahiyangala Ananda Sagara Thera joined the cardinal in speaking out against the Muthurajawela development project. Ven. Sagara Thera has condemn-ed almost all destructive projects in the country, castigating rulers who make promises during election campaigns but act differently once they are in power.
The monk and the cardinal conducted a joint press conference against the development of this prime land, which was cultivated until the 1950s but later abandoned due to problems with water resources.
Cardinal named head of Christian research centre in Pakistan
Cardinal Joseph Coutts, the Archbishop of Karachi, has been appointed as the chairperson of a key Christian research and study centre.
He is taking charge of the Christian Study Centre in Rawalpindi, said Father Nasir William, director of the Diocesan Commission for Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
“It’s a big responsibility but since this prelate of the Catholic Church is well known for his experience and personal interest in the interfaith and ecumenical field, I would say he is the right man for the right place,” Father William told.
Founded in 1967, the Christian Study Centre aims to work for peaceful coexistence, coope-ration, better understanding and strong bonding between the Christian and Muslim communities and with people of other faiths.
Supported by both the Catholic and Protestant churches, it has been serving as an ecumenical institution for the study of Christian-Muslim relations. Christian-Muslim dialogue has been the key component of the center since its establishment.
It is also running projects related to developing Christian theology in Pakistan, interfaith harmony and peace-building and human/minority rights.
Catholic priest gunned down in Philippines
A Catholic priest has been shot dead near a Carmelite monastery in Bukidnon province in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao. The body of Father Rene Regalado, 42, was found near his car in Malaybalay City on Jan. 24. He had been shot in the head. Malaybalay Diocese said it had received reports that churchgoers had heard gunshots around 7.30 pm, adding it took at least an hour for police to arrive at the scene.
Row between Philippine govt, top university widens
Civil and political groups in the Philippines have lent their weight in a growing row by condemning the government for breaking a 30-year-old agreement with the country’s top state university over allowing security forces onto its campuses.
The deal required police and the military to seek permission from administrators of the University of the Philippines (UP) if they wanted to enter its grounds.
The university, which has 32 campuses across the country, has become a hive of “clandestine recruitment” activity by communist rebels and needed saving, according to the Defence Department.
University bosses and students deny the claim, saying its an attempt to stifle freedom of expression at an institution well known for its criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte’s rule.
On Jan. 21, a Philippine labour coalition said protection from state forces should not only apply to places of learning.
The world’s Catholic bishops rejoice that immoral atomic bombs are finally illegal
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) entered into force on 22 January 2021. Adopted on 7 July 2017, it outlaws the use, threat, possession and stationing of atomic weapons.
To mark the event, the world’s Catholic bishops issued a statement. It reads: “The worst of all weapons of mass destruction has long been deemed immoral. Now it is also finally illegal”. It is encouraging that the “majority of UN member states actively support the new treaty by adopting, signing, and ratifying it”; what is more, public opinion polls show that most people believe that nuclear weapons must be abolished.
Last Wednesday, Pope Francis also spoke about the entry into force of the Treaty, underlining that “This is the first legally binding international instrument explicitly prohibiting these weapons, whose use has an indiscriminate impact, strikes a large amount of people in a short time and causes long-lasting damage to the environment.”
For this reason, “I strongly encourage all States and all people to work decisively toward promoting conditions necessary for a world without nuclear weapons, contributing to the advancement of peace and to multilateral cooperation which humanity greatly needs today.”
Adopted by 122 member states of the United Nations General Assembly in 2017, the treaty was ratified by 50 signatories at the end of October 2020, which allowed it to enter into force 90 days after the 50th signature.
However, the signatures of existing nuclear powers – United States, Russia, China, France, Great Britain, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea – are missing. Japan, the only country struck by nuclear weapons, has refused to sign the treaty arguing that its effectiveness is doubtful without the participation of nuclear powers.
In a recent interview with Vatican News, Mgr Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See, said: “On the one hand, we are concerned that the nuclear powers often seem to be turning away from nuclear multilateralism and the negotiating table, as evidenced by a certain erosion of the nuclear weapons architecture, highlighted by the abandonment of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the weakening of the Iranian JCPOA (Comprehensive Joint Plan of Action), the uncertainty of the future of the aforementioned START, and increasing military spending not only on maintenance but also on the modernization of nuclear arsenals.