Card. Gracias denounces acquittal of nun's alleged rapists
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=150627&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
The acquittal of the alleged rapists of a Catholic nun in India’s Chhattisgarh state "is a grave injustice, not only for our consecrated, but also for all women who have suffered a similar trauma”, said Card. Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay. The prelate who is also president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) was commenting to AsiaNews on the release of the two criminals accused of having drugged, tied up and gang raped the 48-year old sister of the Salesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate (SMMI), at the nuns’ medical centre in the state capital, Raipur, in June 2015. The accused, 19 year-old Dinesh Dhurv, and 25-year old Jitendra Pathak, were released by a fast-track court on January 5 because of lack of evidence. Card. Gracias believes that investigations were compromised beyond repair by the "halfhearted attitude of the police," who failed to protect the crime scene and did not collect the...
The acquittal of the alleged rapists of a Catholic nun in India’s Chhattisgarh state "is a grave injustice, not only for our consecrated, but also for all women who have suffered a similar trauma”, said Card. Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay. The prelate who is also president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) was commenting to AsiaNews on the release of the two criminals accused of having drugged, tied up and gang raped the 48-year old sister of the Salesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate (SMMI), at the nuns’ medical centre in the state capital, Raipur, in June 2015.
The accused, 19 year-old Dinesh Dhurv, and 25-year old Jitendra Pathak, were released by a fast-track court on January 5 because of lack of evidence. Card. Gracias believes that investigations were compromised beyond repair by the "halfhearted attitude of the police," who failed to protect the crime scene and did not collect the traces of the attackers from the victim's body. According to Card. Gracias, "this acquittal once again brings to our attention the problem of violence against women. It is a huge setback for all of us working for the rights and dignity of women, in particular victims of violence.” "India's Catholic Church will demand justice from a higher court. We will challenge the verdict on appeal," the cardinal stated.
The state representatives of the Congress party and the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum have called the incident a "systematic attack against minorities in the State". For its part, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) has reported that such incidents raise serious questions about the safety and protection of minorities in India. Since the beginning, the Christian leaders have complained about serious shortcomings in the conduct of enquiry by investigators, who had not collected blood, urine and other fluid samples to determine the hallucinogenic substance used to dope the missionary. Cardinal Gracias warned that their acquittal would bring serious social consequences and could create problems of public order. “The worrying fact is that low conviction rates inflict damage and represent a danger for the victims and for society as a whole,” he said. (Source: AsiaNews)
Full Article
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275563&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
null / Credit: ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 2, 2024 / 18:20 pm (CNA).The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) released a pair of emergency rules that it said are aimed at combating "misinformation" and a "deeply dishonest scare campaign" by the Biden administration about the state's new six-week pro-life law. The rules, published on May 1, establish guidance for lifesaving measures and clarify that certain procedures, including treatment for ectopic pregnancies, are not considered abortion and remain legal under the Florida Heartbeat Protection Act, which went into effect on Wednesday. This comes amid significant criticism over the state's pro-life law that prohibits abortions on women after six weeks of pregnancy except for in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is in danger. The new AHCA rules further clarify those exceptions. "The agency finds there is an immediate danger to th...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275562&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Oviedo Archbishop Jesús Sanz Montes accused the government of focusing "in a biased and manipulative way on the problem of pedophilia as something attributable only to the Catholic Church." / Credit: Archdiocese of OviedoACI Prensa Staff, May 2, 2024 / 18:50 pm (CNA)."They have done it again. It is a kind of obsessive mantra every time they need a smokescreen to distract from the real problems we have and to which they so clumsily and insidiously apply their tortuous governance."That is how the archbishop of Oviedo, Jesús Sanz Montes, began a letter released this week titled "The Accusing Rattle" in which he responds to the socialist government's announcement of an exclusive plan to address sexual and power abuses committed within the Catholic Church.In the opinion of the prelate, the country's executive "has tried to focus in a biased and manipulative way on the problem of pedophilia as something attributable only to the Catholic Church, which represents an exclusive...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275559&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Pope Francis meets with 300 priests taking part in the World Meeting of Parish Priests on May 2, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, May 2, 2024 / 12:41 pm (CNA).Pope Francis published a letter on Thursday addressed to all parish priests in the world with his advice for building a missionary Church in which all the baptized share in the mission of proclaiming the Gospel."Parish communities increasingly need to become places from which the baptized set out as missionary disciples and to which they return, full of joy, in order to share the wonders worked by the Lord through their witness," Pope Francis wrote in the letter published on May 2.The pope presented the letter to 300 priests participating in the Synod on Synodality's "World Meeting of Parish Priests" during an audience at the Vatican, saying that their meeting is "an opportunity to remember in my prayers all of the parish priests in the world to whom I address these words with great affection."P...