Muslim protest march against Jakarta's Christian governor ?
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=156547&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Thousands of hard-line Muslims marched in Indonesia’s capital on Friday, calling for the jailing of the city's minority Christian governor. Following Friday prayers, the protesters marched from Istiqlal Mosque in central Jakarta to the nearby presidential palace, which was under heavy police guard. Protests against Gov. Basuki ``Ahok'' Tjahaja Purnama have snowballed since September when he was accused of blaspheming the Quran and subsequently charged. His trial is still underway.The turnout for Friday's protest was small compared with the hundreds of thousands who answered the call of hard-line Islamic groups to flood central Jakarta for demonstrations in November, December and February. Jakarta police's director of traffic Ermayudi Sumarsono estimated the crowd at 13,000 to 15,000. Police estimates are often conservative. Earlier Friday, police said they had arrested Muhammad Al Khatht...
Thousands of hard-line Muslims marched in Indonesia’s capital on Friday, calling for the jailing of the city's minority Christian governor. Following Friday prayers, the protesters marched from Istiqlal Mosque in central Jakarta to the nearby presidential palace, which was under heavy police guard. Protests against Gov. Basuki ``Ahok'' Tjahaja Purnama have snowballed since September when he was accused of blaspheming the Quran and subsequently charged. His trial is still underway.
The turnout for Friday's protest was small compared with the hundreds of thousands who answered the call of hard-line Islamic groups to flood central Jakarta for demonstrations in November, December and February. Jakarta police's director of traffic Ermayudi Sumarsono estimated the crowd at 13,000 to 15,000. Police estimates are often conservative. Earlier Friday, police said they had arrested Muhammad Al Khaththath, the leader of the Muslim Peoples Forum umbrella group, and other four other activists for suspected treason. Their followers said they were not deterred by the arrests.
The blasphemy case, slurs against Ahok's Chinese ethnicity and the ease with which hard-liners attracted huge numbers of people to protest have undermined Indonesia's reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam and shaken the secular government as well as mainstream Muslim groups. Blasphemy is a criminal offense in Indonesia, punishable by up to five years in prison.
Ahok will compete in a runoff election for governor next week against a former cabinet minister backed by conservative Muslim clerics. He was popular with Jakarta's middle class because of his drive to eliminate corruption and his efforts to make the overflowing polluted city more livable. But demolitions of some of the slum neighborhoods that are home to millions and ill-considered outspokenness proved to be his Achilles' heel. Opponents seized their moment last year when a video surfaced of Ahok telling voters they were being deceived if they believed a specific verse in the Quran prohibited Muslims from electing a non-Muslim as leader. (Source: AP)
Full Article
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275617&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
In an aerial view, the cargo ship Dali sits in the water after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024, in Baltimore. / Credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty ImagesACI Prensa Staff, May 5, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).Bishop Brendan Cahill of Victoria, Texas, is inviting Catholics throughout the United States to join the May 22 "National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for Sailors and People of the Sea," which this year will include a special prayer in memory of those affected by the catastrophic March 26 Baltimore bridge collapse. "Each year, we pray for those who work on the high seas and the ports. In a special way this year, we remember those who have been impacted by the collapse of the Key Bridge, particularly the six construction workers who perished in the bridge collapse, and for their families as they mourn the loss of their loved ones," Cahill said.On March 26, the container ship Dali suffered a power failure and collided with one of the bridge...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275611&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
The "Holy Fire" is passed from inside Christ's tomb to pilgrims gathered inside the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jersusalem on May 4, 2024, for the annual Orthodox Christian ceremony, held on the day before Easter, according to the Julian calendar. / Credit: Marinella Bandini/CNAJerusalem, May 5, 2024 / 09:00 am (CNA).Pilgrims gathered in Jerusalem on Saturday for the annual "Holy Fire" ceremony at the revered site of Jesus' burial and resurrection, an ancient custom considered by many believers to be a miraculous event that takes place the day before the Orthodox Christian celebration of Easter.For safety reasons, attendance at the May 4 event was capped at 4,200 people inside the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher, though the crowds were more manageable and somewhat subdued this year because of a lack of pilgrims from the Palestinian territories and abroad due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.Israeli police man a checkpoint inside the Old City of Jerusalem duri...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275610&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Pope Francis greets the crowd gathered at St. Peter's Square on May 5, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, May 5, 2024 / 09:30 am (CNA).Pope Francis asked for a moment of silence as he spoke from the window of the Apostolic Palace on Sunday for people to thank the Lord for their friends. The pope reflected on the gift of friendship during his Regina Caeli address on May 5."Since childhood, we learn how beautiful this experience is: We offer friends our toys and the most beautiful gifts; then, growing up, as teenagers, we confide our first secrets to them; as young people we offer loyalty; as adults, we share satisfactions and worries; as seniors, the memories, considerations, and silences of long days," the 87-year-old pope said."The word of God, in the Book of Proverbs, tells us that 'Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel' (Prv 27:9). Let us think a moment of our friends and thank the Lord for them."S...