Pakistan Church slams sanitation work only for minorities
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=152127&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
The Catholic Church of Pakistan has firmly slammed the latest form of discrimination against the country’s religious minorities which relegates them to the lowly sanitation jobs. The Faisalabad Waste Management Company (FWMC) has set strict conditions for those who "will improve the cleanliness of the city", namely candidates "must be from Faisalabad, healthy and non-Muslims." The National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) of Pakistan’s Catholic bishops spoke out, stating that "the advertisement is based on discrimination and brassiness against religious minorities and non-Muslims. It is an attempt to divide society into segments and promote the view that minorities and non-Muslims are second-class citizens." "This kind of attitude,” the statement said, “is a gross violation of Article 27 of the Constitution, which says: ‘No citizen otherwise qualified for appointment in the service of Pakista...
The Catholic Church of Pakistan has firmly slammed the latest form of discrimination against the country’s religious minorities which relegates them to the lowly sanitation jobs. The Faisalabad Waste Management Company (FWMC) has set strict conditions for those who "will improve the cleanliness of the city", namely candidates "must be from Faisalabad, healthy and non-Muslims." The National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) of Pakistan’s Catholic bishops spoke out, stating that "the advertisement is based on discrimination and brassiness against religious minorities and non-Muslims. It is an attempt to divide society into segments and promote the view that minorities and non-Muslims are second-class citizens." "This kind of attitude,” the statement said, “is a gross violation of Article 27 of the Constitution, which says: ‘No citizen otherwise qualified for appointment in the service of Pakistan shall be discriminated against in respect of any such appointment on the ground only of race, religion, caste, sex, residence or place of birth’.”
For some time, Christians have complained that the Punjab provincial government hires only Christians as sanitation workers. Last year, the head of Multan district health bureau announced that he would hire only non-Muslims to perform such work in local hospitals and rural health facilities. In 2013, the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province Parvez Khattak, had to clarify his position after stating that "Muslims cannot be hired as sweepers or cleaners” because sanitation work “can only be carried out by Christians, Hindus and lower castes."
Some studies note that about 80 per cent of garbage collectors in Pakistan’s big cities are Christians, branded "choora", a derogatory term used for Christians to define them as “untouchables”. For Professor Anjum James Paul, a Catholic and president of the All Pakistan Minorities' Teachers Alliance, the lack of economic resources among Christians is the main reason why many of them are employed in this field. "Many of these workers are school dropouts,” he explained. “Christian families find it hard to finance higher education expenses for their children. Also there is a biased attitude and discrimination prevalent in general public”. All this is a sign of “prejudice, as only a 5 per cent quota is reserved for non-Muslims” in public sector jobs. (Source: AsiaNews)
Full Article
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275537&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
null / Credit: Juthamat8899/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 1, 2024 / 17:05 pm (CNA).The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released a new report on Wednesday highlighting the countries with the worst religious persecution in the world.From this report, which is released annually, USCIRF makes recommendations to the State Department on how to best advocate for religious freedom. The suggestions typically translate into sanctions from the U.S. against violating countries to pressure them to improve their religious tolerance. This year, the countries topping USCIRF's list of the world's most egregious religious freedom violators were Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, India, Iran, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam.USCIRF recommends these nations be designated as "countries of particul...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275536&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
The St. Louis Cathedral, the oldest Catholic cathedral in continual use in the United States, on April 9, 2020, in New Orleans. / Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 1, 2024 / 17:50 pm (CNA).A criminal investigation into the Archdiocese of New Orleans is based on a suspicion that it may be linked to child sex trafficking, according to allegations presented in a search warrant granted to Louisiana State Police.The affidavit requesting the search warrant, first obtained by the New Orleans-based WWL Radio, alleges that multiple sex abuse victims provided statements that claim they were transported to other parishes and outside of Louisiana, where they were sexually abused. It further alleges a scheme within the archdiocese in which abused children were instructed to provide "gifts" to certain priests, which were meant to signal that the children were targets for sexual abuse.According to the ...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275535&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Catholics in the Archdiocese of Baltimore pack the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen during a concluding listening session on the archdiocese's major parish restructuring plan on April 30, 2024. / Credit: Matthew BalanBaltimore, Md., May 1, 2024 / 18:10 pm (CNA).Hundreds of Catholic residents of Baltimore packed the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen on Tuesday evening to give their often-impassioned reactions to a process that could lead to the closure of nearly two-thirds of the city's parishes.Several parishes from the state's largest city organized large contingents to attend the April 30 meeting, which was the final of three listening sessions for the Archdiocese of Baltimore's "Seek the City" parish restructuring proposal. They made their presence known with custom-made T-shirts or ethnic attire, with some even carrying large banners that begged Archbishop William Lori to spare their churches.Parishioners from the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in the Mount Washington neighborhood of...