Catholic News 2
NEW YORK (AP) -- After falling sharply in the morning, U.S. stock indexes clawed back and were down only modestly in afternoon trading. A run higher for hospital stocks helped to stem losses for banks and other financial stocks....
MOSCOW (AP) -- The 15-day jail sentence imposed Monday on Alexei Navalny is nothing new for the Kremlin's most visible domestic foe, and is unlikely to be more than a brief interruption of his campaign against what he calls "the party of crooks and thieves." He's repeatedly been jailed, endured a year of house arrest and three convictions that could have brought him significant prison time....
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Despite Republican assurances that North Carolina's "bathroom bill" isn't hurting the economy, the law limiting LGBT protections will cost the state more than $3.76 billion in lost business over a dozen years, according to an Associated Press analysis....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee met on the White House grounds with the source of the claim that communications involving President Donald Trump's associates were caught up in "incidental" surveillance, the congressman's spokesman said Monday....
Impoverished tribal or indigenous Catholics in eastern India’s Jharkhand state readily embrace Lenten austerities in addition to their already hard life. Eugene Lakra, an Oraon tribesman from the state's Gumla Diocese explained that during Lent their daily routine changes and they ban all kinds of recreation including singing and dancing and consuming rice wine, a customary drink among tribal people. Tribal people also avoid celebrations such as dancing during Lent and stop their daily evening gatherings. "Even when we walk back from fields, we don't sing or greet people loudly. We all keep a prayerful silence," he told UCANEWS. "Visitors to villages are often surprised to see the tribal people, who otherwise miss no occasion to sing and dance, remaining quiet during Lent as though they have forgotten how to sing," Lakra said.Lakra’s neighbor Rakesh Kujur, also an Oraon, said it is "not so difficult to fast" because peo...
Impoverished tribal or indigenous Catholics in eastern India’s Jharkhand state readily embrace Lenten austerities in addition to their already hard life. Eugene Lakra, an Oraon tribesman from the state's Gumla Diocese explained that during Lent their daily routine changes and they ban all kinds of recreation including singing and dancing and consuming rice wine, a customary drink among tribal people. Tribal people also avoid celebrations such as dancing during Lent and stop their daily evening gatherings. "Even when we walk back from fields, we don't sing or greet people loudly. We all keep a prayerful silence," he told UCANEWS. "Visitors to villages are often surprised to see the tribal people, who otherwise miss no occasion to sing and dance, remaining quiet during Lent as though they have forgotten how to sing," Lakra said.
Lakra’s neighbor Rakesh Kujur, also an Oraon, said it is "not so difficult to fast" because people in his community usually only eat twice a day due to poverty and only have meat on Sundays or special occasions. During Lent most families even give up on meat and fish on Sundays, although Sundays are usually excluded from Lenten abstinence in the Catholic Church. Catholics take their Lenten Fridays even further. Most villagers have just a single meal at noon - that too rice gruel with a little onion and salt. Adding restrictions without stopping farm work, they say, make them reflect on Christ's passion.
Gumla Diocese has 33 million people, 26 percent or 9 million of them belonging to tribes. The state's 1.5 million Christians, who from 5 percent of the population, are considered a stronger concentration than the national average of 2.3 percent. Industrialization and urbanization in Jharkhand has displaced 2.5 million people, at least 40 percent of them tribal, pushing them out of their natural lifestyles and further into poverty. The state faces food insufficiency and poverty as well. World Bank data reveals that 44 percent of people live below the poverty line, double the national average, and do not have enough to eat more than one meal a day.
"Unlike cities we don't have a lot of entertainment like television, radio, shopping malls or movie halls. Some of us have radio and mobile phones which we use to listen to songs. Playing cards is our normal entertainment," Kujur said, adding that most people avoid even cards during Lent. Sarita Kujur of Bardih parish, one of the oldest in Gumla Diocese said "during Lent our village looks like something sad has happened — a feeling of loss can be sensed as we increase our prayer life reflecting on Jesus who suffered for our sins." Many of the Catholics do charity work during Lent. "We save some rice each time we cook and keep it aside. During Holy Week we give it to the parish church. The parish either donates it to the poor or sells it to raise money," she said. (Source: UCAN)
More young priests, nuns and brothers are needed to train as lawyers in India as cases flood the court system delaying justice, while, for the poor, it may not come at all. This urgency was expressed at the Delhi National Capital Region Lawyers' Forum that brought together 30 professionals to discuss "the prophetic call of legal professionals in the Indian Church today" March 23-24 in New Delhi. "More than any ministry in the Catholic Church we need religious lawyers who can give their services unconditionally to the people living on the margins of society," said Holy Cross Sister Rani Punnasseril, a lawyer. She told UCANEWS that the need is most urgent for rural Catholics and tribal people who do not know what to do when their human rights are violated. "Some of them do not even have enough money to get a lawyer and fight their case in a court," she said.India has some 900 men and women religious who are lawyers but many of them...
More young priests, nuns and brothers are needed to train as lawyers in India as cases flood the court system delaying justice, while, for the poor, it may not come at all. This urgency was expressed at the Delhi National Capital Region Lawyers' Forum that brought together 30 professionals to discuss "the prophetic call of legal professionals in the Indian Church today" March 23-24 in New Delhi. "More than any ministry in the Catholic Church we need religious lawyers who can give their services unconditionally to the people living on the margins of society," said Holy Cross Sister Rani Punnasseril, a lawyer. She told UCANEWS that the need is most urgent for rural Catholics and tribal people who do not know what to do when their human rights are violated. "Some of them do not even have enough money to get a lawyer and fight their case in a court," she said.
India has some 900 men and women religious who are lawyers but many of them are not active, said Franciscan Sister Ann Mary, president of the forum of lawyers in the New Delhi area. Religious lawyers are different because their main focus is not to make a living earning fees. "We focus on the human rights of people (and) because of our missionary call we are committed to work for those who are oppressed," Sister Mary said.
India's inadequate legal system delays justice and many people cannot afford expensive lawyers. The Supreme Court on several occasions stressed the issue of unequal access to justice but no serious attempt has been made to rectify the system. Published reports have said that India's judicial system carries "an impossible burden" as some 80,000 cases are pending in India's Supreme Court for just 30 judges as of 2014. Cases keep piling up and millions of cases are pending in state and district courts. To solve this, they are aiming to create a national forum of Religious lawyers to build a network of "missionary lawyers," Sister Mary said. "We are working to get justice for ordinary people and that is possible when we work together as a force," she said, adding that the meeting was the first move toward that goal. (Source: UCANEWS)
(Vatican Radio) Mexicans who help build the much vaunted “border wall” along the frontier with the United States would be acting immorally and considered as traitors, according to the Archdiocese of Mexico.In its weekly newsletter the Archdiocese warns, “Any company intending to invest in the wall of Trump, would be immoral, but also all its shareholders and owners should be considered traitors to the homeland.” It also stresses, “Signing up for a project that is a serious affront to dignity, is shooting yourself in the foot.”Mexico’s economy minister Ildefonso Guajardo agrees it would not be in companies’ interests to participate in building the wall. Meanwhile, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has stressed that Mexico will never pay for a border wall.Listen to James Blears’ report:
(Vatican Radio) Mexicans who help build the much vaunted “border wall” along the frontier with the United States would be acting immorally and considered as traitors, according to the Archdiocese of Mexico.
In its weekly newsletter the Archdiocese warns, “Any company intending to invest in the wall of Trump, would be immoral, but also all its shareholders and owners should be considered traitors to the homeland.” It also stresses, “Signing up for a project that is a serious affront to dignity, is shooting yourself in the foot.”
Mexico’s economy minister Ildefonso Guajardo agrees it would not be in companies’ interests to participate in building the wall. Meanwhile, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has stressed that Mexico will never pay for a border wall.
Listen to James Blears’ report:
(Vatican Radio) The recent rededication of the ‘Edicule’, or chapel surrounding Jesus’ tomb in Jerusalem’s Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, is an important sign of the growing cooperation among the different Christian Churches in the Holy LandThat’s the view of Belgian Father Frans Bowen, a Missionary of Africa who has been living in Jerusalem for almost 50 years. He works closely with the Vatican as a member of the joint international commissions for dialogue with both the Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox Churches.During a visit to Jerusalem with the Tantur Ecumenical Institute last week, Philippa Hitchen, spoke to Fr Frans about the complex relationships among Christians in the land where Christ was born….Listen: Fr Frans explains that in Jerusalem the three most visible communities are the Greek Orthodox, the Latin, (or Roman Catholic) and the Armenian patriarchates. These communities are the principle groups included in the ‘St...
(Vatican Radio) The recent rededication of the ‘Edicule’, or chapel surrounding Jesus’ tomb in Jerusalem’s Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, is an important sign of the growing cooperation among the different Christian Churches in the Holy Land
That’s the view of Belgian Father Frans Bowen, a Missionary of Africa who has been living in Jerusalem for almost 50 years. He works closely with the Vatican as a member of the joint international commissions for dialogue with both the Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox Churches.
During a visit to Jerusalem with the Tantur Ecumenical Institute last week, Philippa Hitchen, spoke to Fr Frans about the complex relationships among Christians in the land where Christ was born….
Listen:
Fr Frans explains that in Jerusalem the three most visible communities are the Greek Orthodox, the Latin, (or Roman Catholic) and the Armenian patriarchates. These communities are the principle groups included in the ‘Status Quo’ which regulates custody of the main Christian sites (the Latin Patriarchate is represented by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land).
Alongside those, there are the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Copts, Syrians and Ethiopians who have small communities, as well as the Oriental Catholic Churches, that is Greek Catholic, Maronite, Syrian and Armenian Catholics.
There is also an Anglican and a Lutheran bishop in Jerusalem, plus many smaller Pentecostal and Evangelical communities, but Fr Frans says the 12 main Churches with episcopal structures now meet regularly and have developed a closer collaboration over recent decades.
Papal visits change atmosphere
While pilgrims may take home a picture of tensions among the Churches, Fr Frans says this is something that tour guides often repeat, but does not reflect the current state of relationships. “The atmosphere here started changing with the visit of Pope Paul VI,” he recalls, in particular his encounter with the Patriarch of Jerusalem Benedictos, “because for the first time the Greek Patriarchate felt recognized” and could start developing relations with others.
In the 1990s, Fr Frans continues, during the political difficulties of the intifada the heads of Churches “felt the need to consult and see what they could say and do to together”. Since then, they have met regularly, publishing common messages for Christmas and Easter and common statements when the situation requires.
Personal relations overcome fear
The recent ecumenical rededication of the ’Edicule' or chapel housing Jesus' tomb inside the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre was an important development since it took almost 20 years for the Churches to come to an agreement. Little by little things change, Fr Frans says, and “personal relationships play an important role”. Restoration is also underway at the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, a project that “had been waiting for centuries”. Quoting the words of Pope Francis, he says “we’ll continue walking together” and “that’s how we make unity”.
Reflecting on Pope Francis’ 2014 visit to the Holy Land, Fr Frans says it had a profound impact, as can be seen from statements of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch who “spoke about dialogue as he never did before”. There is still a lot of fear and prejudice, he notes, but “personal meetings are able to change a lot”.
Church leaders have called for an impartial probe and justice after police assaulted Catholics in Bangladesh injuring about 25 villagers. Four "plainclothes policemen" entered Doripara village under Holy Family Catholic Church in Gazipur district near Dhaka on the night of March 24. They didn't have identity cards or a warrant but they started raiding the house of a local woman. "When asked what they were doing, they claimed they were policemen but failed to show IDs," Biren Benjamin Gomes, a Catholic eyewitness, told UCANEWS. They looted 5,000 taka (US$63) from the house and raided another home, he said. "Women started screaming 'robbers, robbers' and hundreds of neighbors rushed to help. They beat up the intruders before elderly men stopped them," Gomes, president of Bhawal Christian Jubo Samity, a Catholic youth forum covering seven parishes in Gazipur and Dhaka. Then, about 35 riot police, armed with guns and ba...
Church leaders have called for an impartial probe and justice after police assaulted Catholics in Bangladesh injuring about 25 villagers. Four "plainclothes policemen" entered Doripara village under Holy Family Catholic Church in Gazipur district near Dhaka on the night of March 24. They didn't have identity cards or a warrant but they started raiding the house of a local woman. "When asked what they were doing, they claimed they were policemen but failed to show IDs," Biren Benjamin Gomes, a Catholic eyewitness, told UCANEWS. They looted 5,000 taka (US$63) from the house and raided another home, he said. "Women started screaming 'robbers, robbers' and hundreds of neighbors rushed to help. They beat up the intruders before elderly men stopped them," Gomes, president of Bhawal Christian Jubo Samity, a Catholic youth forum covering seven parishes in Gazipur and Dhaka. Then, about 35 riot police, armed with guns and batons, showed up and attacked villagers, he said. Twenty-five villagers were injured in the incident and shots were fired, leaving five in a serious condition, Gomes said.
Doripara is part of the Bhawal region of Dhaka Archdiocese, one of the country's largest Catholic settlements, where consumption of a locally-brewed liquor is customary. Police have been accused of exploiting the practice to extort money, threatening to arrest them for producing liquor illegally. Bangladesh Christian Association leaders visited the area and met with victims on March 25. The problems with the police is much broader than the one incident, they say. "Police have been arresting Catholics arbitrarily and extorting large sums of money. It is true local Christians drink liquor on various occasions but they are not involved in any anti-social activities," forum president Nirmol Rozario said.
Muhammad Alam Chand, officer-in-charge of Kaliganj police station, denied allegations of police misconduct. "Police are not involved in extortion and the drive against illegal liquor is part of anti-drug operations," Chand told UCANEWS. On March 24, police were on a "mission to arrest convicted criminals" but clashes started when people resisted, he said. "Police went to arrest criminals but they resisted so the police took self-defense measures when the angry mob attacked," Chand said. The officer said police filed a case against villagers on March 25 but no one had been arrested. The same day, hundreds of villagers from Doripara took to the streets to call for justice and promised more protests.
Father Albert Rozario, convener of the Justice and Peace Commission in Dhaka Archdiocese called for an end to police harassment. "What happened in Doripara is a result of public anger and we demand justice and the end of abuse," he said. (Source: UCAN)
(Vatican Radio) “Silence in the face of the suppression of unborn life makes us complicit in the crime of abortion.” That, in synthesis, is the message of the Mexican bishops in a communique sent on the national ‘Day for Life’ celebrated on 25 March, the Solemnity of the Annunciation.“Life is not a good we gave ourselves but a gift which we have received,” reads the communique signed by Bishop Francisco Javier Chavolla Ramos of Toluca and head of the Mexican Bishops’ Commission for Life.“No one may violate the integrity of another human being: neither for research purposes, nor because they are elderly, disabled, sick, unable to understand, nor a migrant.”‘Anti-human and criminal confusion’The bishops’ communique reads, “Today in Mexico there are many threats to family life” aimed at changing the face and dignity of life through legal means.In the current society, it reads, “the ideology of r...
(Vatican Radio) “Silence in the face of the suppression of unborn life makes us complicit in the crime of abortion.” That, in synthesis, is the message of the Mexican bishops in a communique sent on the national ‘Day for Life’ celebrated on 25 March, the Solemnity of the Annunciation.
“Life is not a good we gave ourselves but a gift which we have received,” reads the communique signed by Bishop Francisco Javier Chavolla Ramos of Toluca and head of the Mexican Bishops’ Commission for Life.
“No one may violate the integrity of another human being: neither for research purposes, nor because they are elderly, disabled, sick, unable to understand, nor a migrant.”
‘Anti-human and criminal confusion’
The bishops’ communique reads, “Today in Mexico there are many threats to family life” aimed at changing the face and dignity of life through legal means.
In the current society, it reads, “the ideology of respect for animals is presented as a responsibility, while the power to bring death to an unborn child is understood as a right”.
Bishop Chavolla Ramos’ statement says this “anti-human and criminal confusion is permeating the entire country, and today in Mexico thousands of unborn children are being killed.”
Silence makes us complicit
The communique said people “have a serious, human and societal responsibility”.
It recalls the words of the Annunciation: “The words of the Angel to Mary ‘be not afraid’ remind us to defend life without fear.”
“Lent is an invitation and an opportunity to correct our errors, above all the error of unhealthy silence, which makes us complicit in the crime of abortion. For this reason, may our asking forgiveness for our sins include a sincere repentance for the evil committed, as well as for the offense to Christ and the pain caused to our brothers and sisters.”
