Newly inducted Union minister Alphons Kannanthanam said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing what a good Christian is supposed to do. Addressing a public rece-ption on Sept 10 at Muvattupuzha near Kochi, the Minister of State for Tourism said, “People ask why I, a Christian, joined BJP. My answer to them is that Modi is doing what a good Christian is supposed to do. I would do whatever possible to realise the PM’s dream of creating a new India where all Indians can live with dignity.”
Pope Francis meets with Indian priest kidnapped by Islamic militants in Yemen
Pope Francis has met with the Indian priest who was held by Islamic militants in Yemen for 18 months. The Indian government announced on Sept.12 that Salesian Father Tom Uzhunnalil – a missionary priest kidnapped in Yemen on March 4, 2016, at a home for the elderly in the southern port city of Aden where he served as a chaplain – had been released.
He arrived in Rome 12th evening to recuperate at the Salesian headquarters before returning to India.
Uzhunnalil was kidnapped during an attack on the missionary compound in which gunmen posing as relatives of one of the residents at the home burst inside, killing sixteen people, including four Indian nuns belonging to the Missionaries of Charity, the order of founded by Mother Teresa.
He met with Francis on September 13 in the Casa Santa Marta, immediately following the general audience.
“The Holy See strongly thanks those who have been working for its find, in particular, His Majesty the Sultan of Oman and the competent authorities of the Sultanate.”
The Press Room also announces that “the religious will be visiting for a few days in a Salesian community in Rome before departing for India.”
Kidnappers provided medicine, never mistreated: Father Uzhunnalil
Father Thomas Uzhunnalil, who was released from his kidnappers on Sept 12, says his Islamic abductors who spoke Arabic did not mistreat him but provided him with medicine for his severe diabetic condition.
Father Uzhunnalil said throughout his captivity, he celebrated Mass daily, remem-bering readings and parts of text, without liturgical texts or species to celebrate.
Father Uzhunnalil appeared calm and answered the questions of the confreres but without giving much details. He recalled that he was kidnapped from the chapel of the community of the Missionaries of Charity of Aden. He was moved two or three times but always blindfolded in such circumstances, the report said.
“I never thought I could be killed,” said the priest.
“No ransom was paid and the reason why Oman got into the efforts for release is… when direct efforts do not yield results, indirect measures are adopted and what’s important is to solve the problem,” Singh said while addressing the media here. On a question when the priest is expected to return to India, the Minister said: “He (Tom) will have to decide that.”
Sign language Mass in Kerala hailed as first in India
Cardinal George Alencherry, the head of Kerala-based Syro-Malabar Church, led a Mass for hearing impaired people Sept. 11 assisted by priests train-ed in sign language, with local media calling it a first in India. Some 200 people, including school-going children to 83-year grandmother, attended the mass and gathering at the Church’s headquarters in Kochi. Hearing impaired people from all the 15 dioceses of the Church in the southern state attended the program. As the Cardinal said the Mass prayers, a priest and a nun trained in sign language stood behind him in the altar commu-nicating the prayers through signs to the gathering that could not hear or speak a word. They also responded to the prayers in sign language. “All the dioceses would arrange Mass for you, whenever you need. Please let us know,” Cardinal Alencherry said at the end of the Mass. The Church is realizing the increasing need of pastoral care for physically challenged people. Other sacraments including confession also would be administered in sign language, he said.
Archishop Thazhath slams compulsory Sunday program on Modi’s birthday
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) senior vice-president, Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Thrissur, has expre-ssed anxiety over the UP govern-ment’s move to make compulsory the attendance at the state’s primary schools as a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday celebrations.
The archbishop of Thrissur told reporters here on Sept 9 that such a move was against prote-cting the minority rights.
All 1.6 lakh government primary schools in UP would celebrate Mr Modi’s birthday on Sep 17, and it would be mandatory for all students to attend, the archbishop said quoting media reports. “Sunday is not a simple holiday for Christians all over the country.”
Kerala Catholic Church upset with LDF’s liquor policy
The Catholic Church in Kerala is upset with the new liquor policy of the state’s LDF govern-ment, as closed bars are being allowed to reopen despite assura-nces from CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury to the contrary, a bishop said.
Expressing deep anguish, Bishop Mar Remigiose Inchana-niyil, Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Thamarassery, told the media that the present “Left government has cheated.”
“Yechury had assured that not a single closed bar would be opened and now it (assurance) has fallen flat. What came as a shock was the relaxation made recently in the distance liquor vends need to keep from educational and religious institutions…it has been reduced from 200 metres to 50 metres,” said the bishop.
“It’s now clear that ‘money’ is all supreme and everything comes after it. The liquor policy of the Congress-led UDF (United Democratic Front) was also flawed. We will organise a protest against the new policy,” added the bishop. Yechury had said during the state assembly election campaign that if the Left came to power, not a single closed down bar would be reopened.
CCTV cameras inside Mumbai church divide parishioners
Catholic groups in Mumbai are pitting against one another over surveillance cameras installed in the women’s wash-room of St Michael’s Church in Mumbai’s Mahim.
While two women filed a police complaint against the church authorities, accusing the priests of voyeurism and stalk-ing, Catholic association has called it a campaign to defame priests, the Hindustan Times reported.
On Sept 9, groups supporting the priests walked to the Mahim police station to submit a memorandum supporting the priests. They said they will consult their lawyers to discuss legal action against those accusing the priests of crime.
The police have not yet registered a FIR, but have said that they are investigating the complaints and have spoken to the women who felt the cameras were obtrusive.
The church said that the cameras were put up after complaints of thefts in the washrooms, but a group called the Association of Concerned Catholics (AOCC) said that the devices violate voyeurism and stalking laws.
“The cameras can film women in a private affair. Applying lipstick or combing hair in front of the washroom mirror is also a private affair,” said Joseph Sodder, a lawyer and member of AOCC.
Chinese authorities ban children going to churches
Communist authorities are continuing to tighten their grip on practising Christians with at least four regional governments across China issuing notices that restrict children from joining Christian groups and attending religious activities.
The ban includes turning children away from churches even if they attend with their parents and teachers. Additionally, the ban includes promises that officials will launch investigations into both government approved churches and underground congregations who operate outside the tightly controlled official Beijing-run Catholic and Protestant churches.
The latest move comes as part of a concerted crackdown on religion that began with a three-year cross removal campaign in the Christian stronghold province of Zhejiang. The state’s move against religions became official last year when Chinese leader Xi Jinping instituted formal plans to “sinicize” religion with the intention of bringing more religious followers under the control of the ruling Communist Party, which itself is officially atheist and forbids members from practising.
“An emergency notice from the higher authorities strictly forbids all secondary and primary school teachers, students and toddlers to join Catholic or Protestant churches,” the school district of Yonglin in Wenzhou, eastern Zhejiang, said in a note to all primary schools, adult educational institutes and kindergartens.
Maria, a Catholic laywoman in the district who identified herself by her baptismal name, told ucanews.com that about her daughter’s teacher sent an audio and written message to the parents’ chat group “asking us not to bring children to the church.”
The teacher indicated the education bureau issued that instruction while adding that an inspection team would launch open and undercover investigations to find out how many children went to the church.
On Aug. 12, the local street committee office also sent officials to churches to persuade parents not to take their children there. However, Maria said, there were still many children participating in the procession for the feast of the Assumption of Mary, one of the four most important feasts for the China Church, on Aug. 15.
In another incident, a church-run summer camp that two Protestant classmates of her niece attended, was eventually disbanded and all participants sent home, Maria said.
“The move by the authorities is unnecessary. Even if they are not allowed to go to church, we parents can pass on our religious belief to our kids at home,” Maria said while admitting that recent events had her concerned.
Nepal criminalizes religious conversion under new law
Religious communities in Hindu-majority Nepal need to press for changes to a new law impacting on religious freedom, which is inconsistent with the nation’s international commit-ments. While there has been ongoing discussion of some specific aspects of the law, many Christian leaders have yet to grasp its wider implications.
On Aug. 9, amendments were made to the country’s 164-year-old general criminal code, known as the Muluki Ain. The revised criminal code imposes sanctions for several offences not included in the old law.
Aspects of the new law can be considered as reforms.
However, it also incorporates ‘anti-conversion clauses’ which effectively narrow religious freedom, notably for minorities.
One government repre-sentative previously main-tained that the criminal code amendments would protect freedom of religious belief, but within certain limits.
A critic of this justi-fication compared it to allowing a bird to fly freely, but only within a narrow cage.
In late 2015, Kamal Thapa, then deputy prime minister, maintained that changes to be introduced to the criminal code would ensure full religious freedom.
Sri Lankan bishops condemn govt’s decision to legalize abortion
Bishops in Sri Lanka have condemned a government move to allow abortion in some circumstances. Cabinet has approved presentation of a bill to parliament to legalize abortion when a pregnancy is due to rape or if a fetus is diagnosed with a “lethal” congenital malformation. The Sri Lankan bishops’ conference stressed that the church believes life begins at conception. A person could not safeguard their own rights at the expense of violating somebody else’s rights, said Bishop Valence Mendis of Chilaw, secretary general of the bishops’ conference.
Bishop Mendis, in a joint statement with Bishop J. Winston S.Fernando, president of the bishops’ conference, defended the “right to life” of an unborn child. An estimated 600 illegal abortions take place in Sri Lanka every day, including many in factory zones where large numbers of women work.