Sister Seli Thomas, a member of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate from India, was among three nuns who received the inaugural Sisters Anti-Trafficking Awards (SATA) on October 31.
Also honored were Sr.Patricia Ebegbulem from Nigeria and Sr.Francoise Jiranonda from Thailand. The three have been rescuing women from networks that profit from sexual and labor trafficking. Thomas won the Common Good Award for courage and creativity in addressing exploitation.
Co-hosted by Arise, the International Union of Superiors General and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the awards ceremony in London drew 200 people. Thomas, a lawyer, is based in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata. Her congregation is also known as the Krishnagar Sisters, as it was founded in a city with the same name in West Bengal.
Thomas spoke with GSR about campaigns against human trafficking and attempts to make village women self-reliant.
“Sr.Lisette Thuruthimattam, the then-superior general of our congregation, after attending the UISG plenary assembly in 2009, inspired me to venture into the anti-trafficking mission in West Bengal. Bishop Louis Larravoire Morrow [of Krishnagar] founded our congregation – the Sisters of Mary Immaculate – for evangelization and catechesis with a specific thrust toward women, girls and children.
Fewer S.Koreans marry while number of newlyweds, childless couples hits new low
The number of newlywed couples in South Korea has fallen by more than 6%, to just over one million in 2022.
The proportion for couples with no children has reached an all-time high, this according to Statistics Korea.
A declining birth rate also touches North Korea, so much so that its leader, Kim Jong-un, in a speech, urged his countrywomen to be “more communist” and have more babies.
In South Korea, the number of newlywed couples came to 1.03 million last year, down from the previous year’s 1.1 million, according to Statistics Korea.
The newlyweds here refer to couples who tied the knot for the first time in the five years up to November 2022.
The figure has shown a drop from 1.47 million in 2015 to 1.32 million in 2018 and 1.18 million in 2020.
Of the couples, 46.4% did not have children, a record high proportion since 2015, when Statistics Korea began compiling the related data.
The number of babies born to the newly-weds came to 0.65 in 2022, also an all-time low. The comparable figure for 2021 was 0.66.
As many young people choose to postpone or give up on the idea of getting married or having children, South Korea must face a low birth rate and an aging population.
Such a trend appears to be in line with changing social norms and lifestyles, as well as rising housing prices, a tough job market, and an economic slowdown.
The country’s total fertility rate – the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime – came to just 0.79 in the third quarter of 2023, much lower than the replacement level of 2.1 needed to keep South Korea’s population at 52 million.
Rights activists honour Sri Lankan Catholic journalist
Religious leaders and rights activists in Sri Lanka have honoured prominent Catholic journalist and human rights defender Fredy Gamage who recently received Timor-Leste’s top civilian award for his remarkable contributions to its struggle for independence from Indonesia.
Gamage was hailed as a fear-less human rights defender in Timor-Leste and in his home country during a reception at the Cardinal Cooray Centre in Nego-mbo, about 40 kilometres from the capital Colombo, on Dec. 9.
Catholic priest and rights de-fender, Father Sarath Iddamalgoda, said Gamage’s commitment has persisted through decades of war, political crises, and social injustices that have plagued the island nation.
He is held in high esteem for dedicated efforts in championing the rights of north-eastern people throughout three decades of civil war in Sri Lanka, Iddamalgoda said.
Gamage organized impactful poster campaigns, such as “Tears and Fire of War,” effectively shedding light on the plight of innocent civilians caught in the conflict, he said.
“Through these campaigns, Gamage played a crucial role in informing the public about the hardships faced by minority Ta-mils, demonstrating his commitment to raising awareness about their struggles,” Iddamalgoda told the gathering.
Human Rights Day: Pakistani minorities warn of a national emergency
A prominent rights group in Pakistan has expressed “considerable alarm” over the state of religious freedom in the country. The problem is especially acute for Christian and Hindu girls and young women.
Given this ever-present emergency, some prominent figures and advocacy groups made an appeal yesterday, 10 December, Human Rights Day. Celebrated around the world, the observance commemorates the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948, 75 years ago.
The appeal is addressed to Pakistan’s police, judiciary, government officials, and political leaders to enforce the law and protect those who are victims of abuse.
Many civil society groups urge the government to uphold legal and administrative safeguards to protect ethnic and religious minorities from human rights violations and abuses.
“Successive governments have introduced a legal framework and established national human rights institutions,” explained Fr Abid Tanvir, vicar general of the diocese of Faisalabad; “however, women, people with disabilities, and religious minorities are still facing discrimination and exploitation for the lack of political will and insufficient allocation of resources to institutions.”
Japan’s unwavering commitment to a drug-free society
In the realm of drug policies, the dichotomy between the recent liberalization of drugs in America and Europe and the strict, unforgiving stance in Japan unveils a stark contrast of ethical views.
While the West grapples with rising homelessness primarily fuelled by drug addiction, Japan’s stringent approach has yielded distinct outcomes, so much so that videos of Japanese subways go viral on social media for the simple reason that no drug addict ever disrupts a scene of quietness and basic civil coexistence.
The East Asian culture, particularly in Japan, stands as a testament to zero tolerance towards drug offenses, reflecting a soci-etal commitment to maintaining order and safety.
But in the Western hemisph-ere, drug-related issues, especially homelessness, are often attributed to substance abuse, particularly illicit drugs. The prime culprit is the abuse of substances like opioids, methamphetamine, and other addictive narcotics.
The resultant consequences can be witnessed in the disconcerting scenes near train stations in major capitals in Europe, where individuals, under the influence of drugs and alcohol, resort to criminal activities such as robbery or physical harassment.
Moreover, the sight of home-less individuals engaged in ghastly public acts like urination is a common sight.
“Individuals find themselves entangled in a complex web of struggles where their mental health issues exacerbate their addictive behaviours”
In my interactions with these individuals, it became evident that mental health struggles played a prime role in pushing them toward homelessness. For many, mental illness manifested itself through various addiction problems, with gambling and alcohol abuse standing out.
‘Never Again’ must a genocide happen
This week-end we mark two very significant anniversaries which are interlinked and inter-dependent and matter to the entire world. Saturday is the 75th anniversary of the Genocide Convention. On Sunday is the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Within the Asia region alone, at least two genocides are being committed right now. Both began within the past decade, both impact Muslim populations and both have been officially recognized as genocides by the US State Department as well as by parliamentarians and legal experts around the world.
They are the genocide of the Rohingyas in Myanmar and the Uyghurs in western China’s Xinjiang region. Both involve marginalization, discrimination, dehumanization, hate speech, false accusations of terrorism made against entire people groups, as well as rape, torture, the destruction of places of worship, and incarceration of large proportions of the population.
Across Asia, there are other atrocity crimes – war crimes and crimes against humanity – committed below the radar of the world’s media.
North Korea’s human rights violations were recognized a decade ago as crimes against humanity by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry into North Korea chaired by the Australian judge, Justice Michael Kirby.
In Tibet, atrocities continue and forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China, particularly Falun Gong practitioners, has been declared a crime against humanity by the China Tribunal. Indeed, that independent tribunal has declared China “a criminal state.”
Pope: no plans to resign, to be bured in St. Mary Major
Not so much a decision, much less a revolution, it is a promise Pope Francis made to the Virgin Mary: “I want to be buried in Santa Maria Maggiore. The place is already ready.”
Pope Francis, 87 years old next week, on 17 December, revealed his intention to Mexican broadcaster N+, while also explaining that he is working to simplify the funeral rite for popes. The Pope also made clear that, although he thinks about death – in part due to old age that “arrives as it is” – the idea of resigning is not at all in the plans.
On the contrary, the Holy Father reveals a desire to travel to Belgium in 2024, in addition to “pending” trips to Polynesia and his native Argentina. The interview was conducted by well-known journalist Valentina Alazraki, a veteran Vatican watcher, on the day Mexico celebrates its “mother,” Our Lady of Guadalupe. The “Morenita” is indeed present throughout the interview, during which the Pope reiterates his “great devotion” to Our Lady. Hence, the choice of St. Mary Major as the place of his eventual burial.
The choice marks a historical novelty, especially with respect to the Popes of the recent past, all of whom were buried in the Vatican Grottoes (the last being Benedict XVI, who died on 31 December 2022). However, the decision to be buried in St Mary Major reinforces the bond with the Liberian Basilica, which the Pope has visited more than 100 times: beginning the day after his election, 14 March 2013; then before and after every international trip; and finally, last week, 8 December, when he went to pay homage with a “Golden Rose” offered to the Salus Populi Romani, the Marian icon that tradition says was painted by St Luke and that watches over the inhabitants of the City of Rome.
Hong Kong activist says desire for freedom led her to flee to Canada
Chow, who was jailed in 2020, said in her statement that she made her decision “consi-dering the situation in Hong Kong, my personal safety, my physical and mental health.”
“Perhaps I will never go back again in my lifetime,” she said.
In 2021, Chow was released from prison in Hong Kong after serving more than 6 months for attending an “unlawful” assem-bly in 2019.
She was convicted of attend-ing public protests against a law that would have allowed for political prisoners to be extradited to mainland China to face trial in some circumstances. She was charged and sentenced along with Joshua Wong, a Christian and co-founder of the Demosisto pro-democracy organization with Chow.
Chow was separately facing charges of “colluding with for-eign forces” and other offenses under Hong Kong’s controversial National Security Law.
Before her imprisonment, Chow was banned from running in Hong Kong elections following election law reforms. She has been accused of “sedition” under the terms of the National Security Law, imposed on Hong Kong by the mainland government on July 1, 2020.
The law effectively crimi-nalizes many forms of political speech or criticism of the govern-ment; Chow, Wong, and Nathan Law, another pro-democracy activist currently seeking political refuge in the U.K., were forced to dissolve Demosisto within days of it being imposed.
Following her release from prison, Chow stepped back from public speaking, noting at the time that she needed to recover physically from her time in prison, noting that “[my] body has become too thin during this period.”
Earlier this year, Chow was offered the return of her passport and the possibility of international travel if she first undertook a well-photographed trip to main-land China where several police officers took her on a tour of an exhibition of Chinese national achievements and a visit to the headquarters of the technology company Tencent.
Chow wrote statement Sun-day that “I don’t want to be forced to do anything any more, and I don’t want to be forced to go to mainland China any more.”
Pakistan bishops’ new leader vows to challenge blasphemy laws
Vowing to pursue a program of “justice and peace,” the newly elected president of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops’ Conference says that agenda will include speaking out against the country’s controversial blasphemy laws.
Critics allege that those laws, which criminalize blasphemy against state-recognized religions, are often abused to oppress religious minorities in the over-whelmingly Muslim nation, as well to settle scores among Muslims themselves.
Famously, an illiterate Catholic woman named Asia Bibi was sentenced to execution by hang-ing for blasphemy in 2010 and spent almost a decade on Pakistan’s death row, until an inter-national pressure campaign resulted in her release in 2019 and settlement in Canada.
“Innocent people should not be targeted and sentenced,” said Bishop Samson Shukardin of Hyderabad, who was elected the new leader of the Pakistani bishops in early November.
“My mission is to raise my voice and bring help and relief to the innocent victims,” Shukardin told Crux. The 62-year-old bi-shop insisted that while there are anti-Christian forces in Pakistani society, it’s not universal.
“We take this up with the government on a regular basis, and the government has been very supportive,” he said.
“This anti-Christian sentiment is not pan-Pakistan, but [only] in various places,” Shukardin said. More broadly, Shu-kardin sketched a social development agenda for his term as conference president.
Illegal organ trafficking: an investigation accuses an Indian hospital
One of India’s largest private hospital companies is believed to be involved in an organ trafficking operation, an investigation published this week by the English The Telegraph newspaper reported.
According to the investigation, several poor citizens from Myanmar were transferred to Delhi’s Apollo Hospital (one of two hospitals in the capital run by the Indraprastha Medical company, also known as IMCL) and paid to have their kidneys exported, which are then donated to other patients, often even foreigners.
“The allegations made by recent international media against IMCL are absolutely false, ill-informed and misleading,” the private company said in a statement. Apollo Hospitals Group said it agreed with the IMCL statement. “As part of its corporate governance policy, IMCL has initiated an investigation into the matter to delve into all aspects of the transplant process,” the company further explained.
Organ sales are being considered in India (and Myanmar), but it would not be the first time reports have emerged of kidney trafficking in India, where there is a shortage of donors. Nearly a million Indians are diagnosed with chronic kidney disease every year and around 200,000 people suffer from end-stage renal failure. By some estimates, only 10% of Indians who develop kidney disease see a nephrologist, and at least 20 Indians die every day waiting for an organ donation. As of 2022, only 7,500 trans-plants have occurred across the country.