Marian statue decapitated in Mumbai
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A statue of Mary was decapitated by vandals early Sunday morning in the western Indian city of Mumbai, and local Catholics allege the attack is a deliberate attempt to intimidate Christians from voting for candidates from their community in the upcoming local elections. Father Nigel Barrett, spokesman of Bombay Archdiocese told UCANEWS that some men on two motorbikes came on Feb. 19 and smashed the glass-encased statue in the Kurla suburb of the city, decapitating it. He said they were waiting for what the police have to say after investigation, but Joseph Dias, a Catholic leader and founder of the Mumbai-based Catholic Secular Forum, said, “it is directly related to the elections.” “It was a deliberate attempt to create a fear psychosis among the people as the area is Catholic dominated," he told UCANEWS.Civic elections in the city are scheduled for Feb. 21 and Christians have been campaigning for political parties to back their choice in ...
A statue of Mary was decapitated by vandals early Sunday morning in the western Indian city of Mumbai, and local Catholics allege the attack is a deliberate attempt to intimidate Christians from voting for candidates from their community in the upcoming local elections. Father Nigel Barrett, spokesman of Bombay Archdiocese told UCANEWS that some men on two motorbikes came on Feb. 19 and smashed the glass-encased statue in the Kurla suburb of the city, decapitating it. He said they were waiting for what the police have to say after investigation, but Joseph Dias, a Catholic leader and founder of the Mumbai-based Catholic Secular Forum, said, “it is directly related to the elections.” “It was a deliberate attempt to create a fear psychosis among the people as the area is Catholic dominated," he told UCANEWS.
Civic elections in the city are scheduled for Feb. 21 and Christians have been campaigning for political parties to back their choice in Christian-dominated areas as candidates. The umbrella group of some 100-odd Catholic organizations and groups called the Church in the City, claims to represent some 500,000 Catholics in the city. Dias said their campaign has put an "unusually big" number of Catholic candidates in the fray in Christian dominated areas and some political parties are now worried. "They are making attempts to frighten Catholics not to come out and vote," he said.
For administrative purposes, the city is divided into six zones each having a deputy municipal commissioner. The zones together coordinate 23 wards and more than 250 councilor wards under each ward. Some of the councilor wards are Catholic dominated areas. However, police refused to attribute any motive to the attack. (Source: UCAN)
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A view of the modern area of the Catholic cemetery located on the southern hillside of Mount Zion in April 2024. In the background are the buildings of the Arabic neighborhood of Abu Tor. / Credit: Marinella BandiniJerusalem, Apr 27, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).This past February, the Custody of the Holy Land filed a petition in the Jerusalem District Court against the confiscation of a piece of land inside the Catholic cemetery, which is located on the southern hillside of Mount Zion and serves as a parish cemetery. The affair is part of a project to build a cable car running from First Station (the shopping and entertainment area in West Jerusalem) to the Old City's Dung Gate (the main access to the Western Wall and close to the City of David archaeological site), passing over the Hinnom Valley (or Geenna). The cable cars would be strung over some 15 pylons, from about 30 to 85 feet high, and would ferry up to 3,000 people per hour in up to 72 cars that can each hold 10 people...
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Attendees lay flowers at the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan to mark the 109th anniversary of World War I-era mass killings on April 24, 2024. / Credit: KAREN MINASYAN/AFP via Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 18:00 pm (CNA).As historians and human-rights activists mark the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide this week, some are warning that Armenia is once again facing another existential threat.Speaking on "EWTN News Nightly" on Wednesday, Simone Rizkallah, an Armenian activist with the Philos Project, said that "this feels less like a remembrance and more like a truly historical event that we are in the midst of."The Armenian Genocide was carried out by Ottoman Turks in 1915 and resulted in the deaths of some 1.5 million Armenian Christians, according to historians. Though recognized as a genocide by the U.S. and more than 30 other countries, Turkey denies that characterization.The massacre took place over a hundred ...
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null / Orhan Cam/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 12:30 pm (CNA).The addition of "gender identity" in the Biden administration's interpretation of anti-discrimination rules could jeopardize state laws that restrict women's sports and women's locker rooms to only women, according to legal scholars.Late last week, President Joe Biden's Department of Education redefined the prohibition on sex discrimination in education, enshrined in the 1972 Title IX provisions, to include discrimination based on a person's "gender identity." The new guidelines prohibit any policy and practice that "prevents a person from participating in an education program or activity consistent with their gender identity."Although the new guidelines do not clearly explain how the mandate would be enforced, experts at the legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and the conservative Heritage Foundation told CNA that it could force educational institutions to allow men who...