A couple that was denied the sacrament of marriage on racial grounds, despite a high court order, is suing a Syro-Malabar archbishop and priest for contempt of court.
Justin John, a Catholic from the Kottayam archdiocese, filed a contempt of court petition against Abp. Mathew Moolakkatt and Fr. Sijo Stephan in the Kerala High Court on Friday, upping the ante in a 30-year-long battle against the racist practice of “pure blood” Knanaya Catholics.
The Knanaya Catholics, an endoga-mous group, claim to be the “pure blood” descendants of 72 Jewish Christian families who arrived in India in A.D. 345 from Syria under the leadership of Thomas of Cana, a Syrian merchant.
Laity and clergy who insist on “racial purity” for purposes of sacramental marriage argue that Pope Pius X, through his bull In Universi Cristiani, created the archeparchy of Kottayam in 1911 exclusively for Knanaya Catholics.
Catholics who marry outside the Knanaya community are expelled from the membership of the archdiocese. According to the book Blood Weddings, edited by C. K. Punnen and Lukose Mathew, many Catholics have been expelled on racial grounds in the past decades.
The eparchy does not evangelize or baptize converts to the Catholic Church, so as not to taint the racial purity of its endogamous community with the blood of converts from other communities.
Should a Knanaya Catholic wed a person from outside the community, their children are no longer classified as Knanaya Catholics, and thus are not permitted to marry within the diocese.
If a Knanaya Catholic marries a person from outside the community, their children are no longer considered Knanaya Catholics and hence are not allowed to marry within the diocese.
Priest brother donates kidney to sister nun
Sept 6, 2023: Father Ebi Poruthoor is the latest Catholic priest in the southern Indian state of Kerala to donate one of his kidneys.
The 31-year-old priest of the diocese of Palghat on September 4 donated the kidney to Sister Bini Maria, his sister.The 27-year-old member of the Holy Family congregation required dialysis thrice a week for several years, reports Shekinah News.
The surgeries on the siblings were conducted at the Rajagiri Hospital, managed by the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate in Aluva, a major town in Ernakulam district, some 30 km northeast of Kochi.
Father Ebi, who was ordained a priest on December 27, 2017, and Sister Bini are the children of Anto and Ruby Poruthoor, parishioners of St Antony’s Forane Church in Melarkode.
Father Ebi is currently the vicar of St Antony’s Church Kozhinjampara in Palakkad district.
An Indian nun who turned filmmaker and won accolades
An Indian Catholic nun has won accolades with an award-winning short film and photographic documentation of tribal life in one of the last few surviving forests in the financial capital of the country.
For Sister Josefina Albuquerque, from the congregation of Religious of Jesus and Mary in Mumbai, it’s a dream come true after a 20-year stint teaching in top-ranked schools and being the principal of two high schools.
Her zero-budget movie titled, “D for Dumbo,” which was shot on a simple mobile phone, won the first prize awarded by the St Paul’s Communication Centre in Bandra, Mumbai, on Aug. 14. The seven-minute film about a fourth grader who has difficulty learning math but excels in storytelling has also been selected for screening at the online ALP International Film Festival, showcasing independent films on Sept. 23-24.
“I am very humbled by the award and recognition,” the 45-year-old Goan nun told UCA News.
Albuquerque, who is dressed in the traditional Kurta Churidar like most Indian women, says she always wanted “to reach out to and touch a wider, diverse audience with Gospel values rather than limiting herself to a classroom.”
She continues to serve as the principal of St. Agnes High School in Mumbai, which also serves as the headquarters of the popular Bollywood film industry.
Fresh case against former Protestant bishop in India
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.