Minorities tell Pakistan's top security chief their concerns
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=155883&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
A delegation of religious minorities met Pakistan's top national security adviser to raise their concerns on a range of issues affecting their communities such as the misuse of blasphemy laws and forced conversions. The delegation — which included Christians, Hindus and Sikhs — was led by Senator Kamran Michael, the only Christian minister in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's cabinet on March 17.Bishop Abraham Daniel of Sahiwal said the meeting with top national security adviser Nasir Janjua was a good gesture. "We have expressed our concerns regarding the misuse of blasphemy laws, security and other issues to the national security advisor and hope for better results," the Church of Pakistan bishop told ucanews.com. "Blasphemy laws condemn Christians and other religious minorities to live under the permanent threat of death. We seek not to abolish the law but to stop its misuse," he said. "Not only minorities but Muslims have also...
A delegation of religious minorities met Pakistan's top national security adviser to raise their concerns on a range of issues affecting their communities such as the misuse of blasphemy laws and forced conversions. The delegation — which included Christians, Hindus and Sikhs — was led by Senator Kamran Michael, the only Christian minister in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's cabinet on March 17.
Bishop Abraham Daniel of Sahiwal said the meeting with top national security adviser Nasir Janjua was a good gesture. "We have expressed our concerns regarding the misuse of blasphemy laws, security and other issues to the national security advisor and hope for better results," the Church of Pakistan bishop told ucanews.com. "Blasphemy laws condemn Christians and other religious minorities to live under the permanent threat of death. We seek not to abolish the law but to stop its misuse," he said. "Not only minorities but Muslims have also suffered due to the misuse of this law and many innocent people have been killed," he added.
Joel Amir Sohtra, a Christian and former parliamentarian, told ucanews.com that everyone showed their full commitment to promote harmony and development especially in education. "Theological seminaries and madrasas in particular are obligated to equip students for meaningful pastoral practice and leadership of their communities amid growing diversity. We must not forget the importance of interfaith understanding in the curriculum of our schools," he said.
Advisor to Prime Minister on National Security (retd.) General Nasir Mahmood Janjua said the government was vigilant and committed to secure rights of religious minorities. "The incumbent government is determined to take all possible measures to protect the lives of the minorities against persecution," Janjua said.
Forced religious conversion has been a major problem for both Christians and Hindus in Pakistan. About 1,000 young women are forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan every year, Aurat Foundation, a leading women's rights group, said in a 2015 report. Young women from religious minorities are abducted, converted to Islam, and married to the abductor or a third party without their consent and, in many cases, they are under 18.
In November 2016, Pakistan's Sindh province adopted a bill to introduce stringent punishment against forced conversion but it was withdrawn a month later following a backlash from religious extremists.
(Source: UCANews.com)
Full Article
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275879&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Outer details of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Chicago. / Credit: Eric Allix RogersCNA Staff, May 15, 2024 / 12:12 pm (CNA).Catholics and city preservationists in Chicago are scrambling to try to preserve a historic parish on the city's North Side, one that has survived a century of the city's development including being fully moved to a new location after it was first built. Our Lady of Lourdes Parish will hold its final Mass on Sunday, May 19, before the parish merges with nearby St. Mary of the Lake. The consolidation is part of the Archdiocese of Chicago's ongoing "Renew My Church" initiative that has closed and merged dozens of parishes in order to address shrinking budgets and priest shortages. The archdiocese announced the Lourdes parish merger in 2021. Katerina Garcia, the president of the Our Lady of Lourdes Church Preservation Society, told "EWTN News Nightly" anchor Tracy Sabol this week that parishioners at the parish dispute ...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275878&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan, SJ, archbishop of Hong Kong, China. / Credit: Daniel IbáñezRome Newsroom, May 15, 2024 / 14:17 pm (CNA).Cardinal Stephen Chow recently visited three Catholic dioceses in mainland China, one year after the bishop of Hong Kong's first historic trip to Beijing.Chow led a 10-person delegation of Catholics from Hong Kong to the southern Chinese cities of Guangzhou, Shantou, and Shenzhen in April in his second official visit to China since becoming bishop of Hong Kong."We brought our people to have an encounter … where we share common concerns, for example, youth ministry, catechism, marriage and family," Chow said in a video interview published May 5.Here is a look at some of the Catholic communities Chow visited:St. Joseph's Cathedral in ShantouSt. Joseph's Cathedral in Shantou, China. Credit: Kc1446 at Chinese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsHundreds of Chinese Catholics attended a Mass in St. Joseph's Cathedral in Shantou concelebrated...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275877&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Stained-glass window at the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis. / Credit: Ella Manthey/ShutterstockSt. Louis, Mo., May 15, 2024 / 14:47 pm (CNA).Two St. Louis parishes that appealed to the Vatican after Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski ordered them to merge last year have had their appeals upheld by the Holy See, reversing the archbishop's prior decision.As part of the archdiocese's major pastoral planning initiative dubbed "All Things New," Rozanski announced a year ago that the number of parishes would be reduced by nearly 50 by way of parish mergers and closures.Under canon law, a diocesan bishop has the authority to alter parishes, but only for a just reason specific to each parish. Concern for souls must be the principal motivation for modifying a parish.Amid the All Things New process, a number of parishes announced their intention to send appeals to the Vatican, putting aspects of the mergers planned for the parishes on hold until the Dicastery for the Clergy's rulings. Af...