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(Vatican Radio) Hindu prayers, Sufi meditation, Urdu Christian songs and Chinese children’s dancing: those are just a few of the wide variety of religious and cultural activities on offer this Sunday at a ‘Peace and Unity’ event in Manchester Cathedral.

The afternoon event, organised in conjunction with the city’s interfaith network, comes just two months after a terror attack at Manchester Arena which killed 23 people and injured hundreds of others.

The goal of the ‘Peace and Unity’ event is to celebrate the cultural diversity of the city, which counts over two hundred different linguistic and ethnic groups.

Philippa Hitchen talked to one of the organisers, Rev. Rogers Govender, dean of the Anglican cathedral that is hosting the event with the hashtag #WeStandTogether….

Listen: 

Govender says this is the second year in a row that he has helped to organize such a cultural event to bring people together from the city’s diverse religious communities.

He says that in the face of the terrible events that have taken place in Manchester and beyond, with the intended desire to divide communities,  this ‘Peace and Unity’ event wishes “to affirm our diversity and to celebrate it” instead.

Govender says the city is largely made up of immigrants from all over the world and notes that he himself is an immigrant from South Africa. He describes it as “a great tragedy when terrorists, and others on the far right and so on, seek to divide our community”.

Faith community cooperation

He says the various faith communities in the city “work very well together”, adding that he is involved in a number of interfaith events, aimed at encouraging the different communities to engage in the life of the city.

While the terror attack at Manchester Arena, located near the cathedral, left people fearful, Govender says in the aftermath of the atrocity religious communities and faith leaders “worked very hard together” with Town Hall authorities and local and national governments to hold the community together. “I would like to think that we have largely succeeded in doing that”, he adds.

Aftermath of terror attack

Directly following the suicide bombing, he says, faith leaders were available to speak with people on the streets. Since the cathedral was shut down for two days, services were held outside, including a prayer vigil in front of the Town Hall, while Christian and Muslim leaders gathered together to lay flowers and tributes to the victims. Govender says he also hosted a meeting at the cathedral where political and religious representatives prayed for all those affected by the tragedy.

The ‘Peace and Unity’ event, Govender concludes, aims to be “very family friendly”, encouraging children to read, dance, listen to stories or do crafts together. He urges people to sign up on the website www.peace-and-unity-17@eventbrite.co.uk

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India’s Catholic bishops have welcomed India's new president, hoping he will be able to foster peace, development and justice for all in his largely ceremonial role.  Ram Nath Kovind, a candidate of the right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led coalition of prime minister Narendra Modi was declared India’s 14th president on July 20.  The Indian Parliament and state ‎legislatures voted on July 17, the results of which were declared on Thursday.  The 71-year old low-caste Dalit won with an overwhelming majority over Meira Kumar, also a Dalit candidate, backed ‎by the opposition Congress party.‎

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) offers its "prayers for his good health, wisdom and strength" so he might lead the country "toward peace, development and justice for all peoples," said CBCI Secretary General Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas in a statement.  The bishops pray that "God may assist" Kovind to lead the country as "per the oath of office," and that he will "devote himself to the service and well-being of the people of the Republic of India," the statement said.  The bishops' call to Kovind to uphold the constitution conveys the general air of apprehension from religious minorities that the appointment will present little resistance to the pro-Hindu BJP and their parliamentary majority.

Kovind is a former governor of the eastern state of Bihar and a longtime ‎associate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or National Volunteer Corps, an Indian right-wing ‎Hindu nationalist paramilitary volunteer organization that has been accused of stoking religious hatred ‎against minorities.  The group is the ideological parent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu ‎nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which controls enough seats in federal and state legislatures to push ‎its favoured presidential candidate.  Modi himself was associated early in his career with the RSS, which has long ‎propagated a vision of India that promotes the primacy of the country's majority Hindus.‎

Samuel Jaykumar of the National Council of Churches in India also echoed the feelings of the Catholic bishops.  The told UCANEWS he hopes “the new president follows the constitution and retains its values." 

The presidential election was held amid reports of protests and campaigns against growing intolerance and violence based on religion. Hindu vigilante groups and extremists are accused of attacking religious minorities in the name of protecting the cow, considered holy Hindus, and preventing the consumption of beef.

Constitutionally, India is secular nation that applies equal respect to all religions. However, hard-line Hindu groups, under the political patronage of the BJP, have been working to create a nation of Hindu hegemony. Some leaders have called for amendments in the constitution to alter the secular character of the nation.

Kovind, India’s second Dalit president after K.R. Narayan, had been earlier embroiled in a controversy when, as a BJP leader in 2010, he said "Islam and Christianity are alien to India."  He further suggested people from these religions should not be given social benefits or quotas for government jobs and educational institutions, even if they come from a poor socio-economic backgrounds.

Vijayesh Lal, executive director of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, told UCANEWS he hopes the "new president, just as the previous president, will act above party politics."

The Indian head of state is bound by the advice of the Cabinet led by the prime minister, who is the ‎chief executive.  Kovind is taking over from Pranab Mukherjee whose term expires on July 24.  The new president will be sworn in on ‎ July 25.  (Source UCANEWS)

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At the Triennial Southern Africa Catholic Leaders’ Joint Witness Meeting 2017 Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town who is also President of the Southern Africa Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC) emphasised the importance of unity in diversity in proclaiming the Gospel of the Lord.

He said that diversity and richness of many charisms are the source of success in spreading the Good News.

Joint Witness is a meeting of the Leadership Conference of Consecrated Life (LCCL) and the Bishops of Southern Africa Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC). The meeting normally takes place once in every three years.  It is a platform whereby the two conferences discuss issues affecting the local Church and the society at large.

The problems of Human Trafficking, Migrants and Refugees were some the topics that topped the agenda of the discussions during the Joint Witness Meeting 2017.

(Below is the homily)

LCCLSA AND SACBC TRIENNIAL MEETING 2017

The Gospel of today’s Mass recalls the mission of proclamation of God’s Kingdom given initially to the Apostles, but in fact to all through baptism, and which unites us in a common cause, “And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand”.

Evangelization, as we know, is integral to the very meaning of what it means to be Church. In the words of St Paul, “It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken’. Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak” (2 Cor 4:13).

Evangelization is achieved through three constitutive elements identified by Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI, namely proclamation of the Gospel and witness to Christ, celebrating the sacraments and humble service (cf. Deus Caritas est, 25a). Together we, in the diversity and richness of many charisms, spread the Good News.

The first Reading of today’s Mass holds many important lessons for this task. We hear part of the story of Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers and yet became the right hand man of Pharaoh. Through interpreting Pharaoh’s dream he knew that years of abundance would be followed by years of famine. He took the necessary measures to store food and was able to feed the nations. We, as leadership of the Church in Southern Africa, must always have the hope that God will transform what we perceive to be adversity into a blessing.

Joseph was sold into slavery but through that evil a great good was achieved. We may face many hardships, such as a shortage of resources and vocations, but let us never lose sight of God’s plan which brings blessings. Like Joseph, we too must read the signs of the times. There is a type of famine that grips the earth, the famine of those who hunger for and seek truth and meaning. We have the stored resources, the treasures, with which we can nourish others. This we do with the same generosity of Joseph and without holding back. Just as many nations went to Egypt for food, so we gather together different nations, cultures and languages into the unity of the one family of God.

But the task of evangelization is inseparable from our own discipleship. Pope Francis made the point, “When we walk without the cross, when we build without the cross and when we proclaim Christ without the cross, we are not disciples of the Lord. We are worldly. We may be bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, all of this, but we are not disciples of the Lord”.

Discipleship means carrying our own cross and following Christ. Evangelization is not simply the proclamation of the Gospel by going out and heralding the Good News, as important as that is. There is another pathway that must also be followed. In the words of Pope Francis, it is “the inner journey, the path within, the path of the disciple who seeks the Lord every day, through prayer, in meditation.” These are not separate pathways; they are mutually dependent on each other. Prayer, meditation, the celebration of Sacraments are integral to proclamation and give credibility to it, just as proclamation ensures sincerity in prayer and worship. For this reason all our activity must be founded on an ever-deepening encounter with Christ through Word, Sacrament and prayer. The inner-spiritual life is essential for the mission, just as the mission strengthens and feeds our spiritual life.

The urgency expressed by successive Popes for what has been termed the “new evangelization” means that there is also an urgency for the renewal of our faith expressed in prayer and spiritual life. It is accurate, I think, to say that the crisis facing the Church is not fundamentally a crisis of vocations, of lack of trust, or people leaving the Church, or the supposed irrelevance of the Church to young people. It is a crisis of faith, a crisis of where our hearts lie.

The crisis of faith is, perhaps, not so much a loss of faith as such, but a faith that is being taken for granted, not nurtured or challenged – a complacency about our spiritual life and our call to discipleship. Liturgy becomes routine, our prayer superficial and the practice of faith in action mundane and without passion. A weariness has set in, a “saltlessness”. It can only be changed by seeking with fresh eyes the message of Christ and a return to the Gospel, where the starting point is a desire to know Christ more deeply with a commitment to obedience, especially to the commandment of love of God and neighbor.

The Gospel of Jesus both disturbed and fascinated many, including the commandment to love. We can become so wrapped up in ourselves and content that we do love God and, after all, we wish our neighbor no harm, that we no longer allow the Gospel to disturb us and to put ourselves at risk. The famous quote from Pope Francis recalls us from our comfort: “it is true that going out on to the street implies the risk of accidents happening, as they would to any ordinary man or woman. But if the church stays wrapped up in itself, it will age. And if I had to choose between a wounded church that goes out on to the streets and a sick, withdrawn church, I would definitely choose the first one”.

Jesus, the incarnation of God, shakes us into the realization that we may be the greatest intellectual of all time, a bishop or religious, an ordinary person, but we are not his disciples unless we are able to express the same gentleness, care and compassion to the least of his brothers and sisters. It was in touching the wounds of Christ’s crucifixion that St Thomas recognized the divinity of Christ and made his profound profession of faith “My Lord and my God”.

It is in the wounded-ness of those around us that we must see the face of Christ - and respond. Pope Francis has been clear that it is through concrete acts of mercy that we serve God. “If a disciple is not journeying to serve, there’s no reason for the journey. If his life is not for service, there is no point in living the Christian life”. Touching Jesus’ wounds transformed St Thomas, just as those who were touched by Christ were transformed. Our kerygma and our witness is not primarily through words – it is through those concrete and personal actions that acknowledge and affirm the dignity and value of the other.

In the words of Blessed Oscar Romero, “The transcendence that the church preaches is not alienation; it is not going to heaven to think about eternal life and forget about the problems on earth. It’s a transcendence from the human heart. It is entering into the reality of a child, of the poor, of those wearing rags, of the sick, of a hovel, of a shack. It is going to share with them. And from the very heart of misery, of this situation, to transcend it, to elevate it, to promote it, and to say to them, ‘You aren’t trash. You aren’t marginalized.’ It is to say exactly the opposite, ‘You are valuable.’” Part of the “crisis of faith” is a weakening of this sense of communion with others, of being in solidarity. It is a loss of the sense of caring for those when trouble strikes. It is a loss of a personal approach – a certain anonymity has set in. The warmth of a loving community has grown chilly.

As many people search for meaning and a sense of purpose, we rely on the tenets of our faith. The words “it is in giving that we receive, in loving that we are loved”, remain as true as ever. It is the understanding that in order to gain life we must lose it; it is through sacrifice and humble service that we find purpose and meaning to life, always remembering that this journey can never be separated from our inner spiritual journey.

For us, as leaders of the Church in Southern Africa it must be our continual recommitment to harness our diversity and the multitude of charisms and, in unity, to strive to achieve the common task of spreading the Gospel, through proclamation and witness, Sacraments and service. It is to return to those things that have always stood Christians throughout the ages in good stead. To shake off the weariness that clings so easily, to abandon the insidious idols that creep in so silently and that distract us and drain us of energy. It is Christ and his Gospel that we serve and no other. Pope Francis points us to the road ahead: “We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, and spread love. Be poor among the poor. We need to include the excluded and preach peace”.

These are the challenges that lie before us, the tasks that we must achieve together, always faithful to our vocation and mission. We gather for this triennial meeting to ensure that we are united, diverse in charism, yet one in our commitment to continue the spread of the Gospel and to proclaim the love and joy of the Good News. May God bless us and guide during our deliberations.

(Archbishop Stephen Brislin; Archbishop of Cape Town and President of SACBC)

SACBC/CANAA

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(Vatican Radio) The chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice, Florida, has written the U.S. Senate urging lawmakers “to oppose any effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) without a concurrent replacement plan that protects poor and vulnerable people, including immigrants, safeguards the unborn, and supports conscience rights.”

Congress is considering legislation to replace the controversial health care program, also known as Obamacare.

Bishop Dewane notes that, even before any legislation had been proposed, the U.S. Bishops had made clear “that a repeal of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act ought not be undertaken without the concurrent passage of a replacement plan that ensures access to adequate health care for the millions of people who now rely upon it for their wellbeing.” He continues: “To end coverage for those who struggle every day without an adequate alternative in place would be devastating.”

The difficulties faced by Congress in passing legislation to reform the ACA, he says, should not lead legislators to repeal the ACA without a replacement.

The Bishop acknowledges that “reform is still needed to address the ACA's moral deficiencies and challenges with long-term sustainability,” and suggests that efforts to do so should be done with “more narrow reforms, and in a bipartisan way.”

The full text of Bishop Frank Dewane’s letter to the Senate can be found on the USCCB website.

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Bangladesh's largest Christian organization has launched yearlong activities to mark its 50th anniversary, with the country’s prominent Catholic Church leader inviting Christians to improve how they engage in politics to ensure the community's rights.  The Bangladesh Christian Association (BCA) "was launched to demand and protect rights of minority Christians," said Cardinal Patrick D'Rozario during the anniversary event held in Dhaka on July 17.  "Now, the signs of the time demand that Christians need active political engagement to serve the community and the nation better, and the BCA can pave the way," said the cardinal, Archbishop of Dhaka, during the event where he also inaugurated the BCA's jubilee programme. "Getting political should be based on Christian values and about breaking barriers that fuel division and conflicts which can harm the church and the community as whole," said the cardinal who is also president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh (CBCB).

BCA president, Nirmol Rozario said the organization would continue to fight for the rights of Christians, who form a miniscule 0.5% of Bangladesh’s population of some 160 million, mostly Muslims. Most of the estimated 600,000 Christians are Catholics.

The BCA was founded in 1967 as the Christian Association of East Pakistan and was renamed after Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971.  Currently, the BCA has 75 branches, six-affiliated organizations and about 10,000 registered members across the country.   (Source: UCANEWS)

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By Julie Asher

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- U.S. senators must reject any bill that would replace the Affordable Care Act unless such a measure "protects poor and vulnerable people, including immigrants, safeguards the unborn and supports conscience rights," said the chairman of the U.S. bishops' domestic policy committee.

Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, called on the Senate to fix problems with the ACA in a more narrow way, rather than repeal it without an adequate replacement.

"Both the American Health Care Act legislation from the U.S. House of Representatives and the Better Care Reconciliation Act from the Senate were seriously flawed, and would have harmed those most in need in unacceptable ways," Bishop Dewane said.

The House passed its bill to repeal and replace the ACA health care law May 4 with a close vote of 217 to 213. The Senate's version collapsed July 17 after four Republican senators said they couldn't support it, leaving Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, short of the 50 votes needed to bring the bill to the floor for a debate.

"In the face of difficulties passing these proposals, the appropriate response is not to create greater uncertainty, especially for those who can bear it least, by repealing the ACA without a replacement," he said.

Bishop Dewane made the comments in a June 20 letter to U.S. senators released July 21.

President Donald Trump had lunch with the GOP senators at the White House July 19 in an effort to get them to commit to moving forward a repeal and replace measure. A new Senate draft of a bill was released July 20, and McConnell is expected to hold a vote to begin debate July 25.

Bishop Dewane referred back to a Jan. 18 letter in which the U.S. bishops "encouraged Congress to work in a bipartisan fashion to protect vulnerable Americans and preserve important gains in health care coverage and access."

That letter reiterated principles he said the bishops laid out when the ACA was being debated in early 2010. "All people need and should have access to comprehensive, quality health care that they can afford, and it should not depend on their stage of life, where or whether they or their parents work, how much they earn, where they live, or where they were born," the bishops said at the time. "The bishops' conference believes health care should be truly universal and it should be genuinely affordable."

"Before any legislation had been proposed, the bishops were clear" in their Jan. 18 letter to lawmakers, Bishop Dewane said, "that a repeal of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act ought not be undertaken without the concurrent passage of a replacement plan that ensures access to adequate health care for the millions of people who now rely upon it for their well-being.

"To end coverage for those who struggle every day without an adequate alternative in place would be devastating," he said. "Nothing has changed this analysis."

At the same time, "reform is still needed to address the ACA's moral deficiencies and challenges with long-term sustainability," Bishop Dewane said.

"Problems with the ACA can be fixed with more narrow reforms, and in a bipartisan way," he said, "Congress can extend full Hyde Amendment protections to the ACA, enact laws that protect the conscience rights of all stakeholders in health care, protect religious freedom, and pass legislation that begins to remove current and impending barriers to access and affordability, particularly for those most in need."

In an analysis issued late July 20, the Congressional Budget office said the new version would still increase the current number of uninsured Americans by 22 million by 2026. In 2016, 28 million people were uninsured last year; in 2010, just over 48 million were uninsured in 2010, the year the ACA was signed into law by President Barack Obama.

It would reduce average premiums in the ACA exchanges by 25 percent in 2026, end the individual and employer mandates, and rescind the Medicaid expansion under the current law. Taxes on investment income and payroll taxes affecting higher-income Americans would remain.

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