Sri Lanka arrest five over anti-religious violence
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=164053&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Sri Lanka police have arrested five people including a member of a hardline Buddhist organization for instigating religious violence against Muslims and a Muslim for defaming Buddhism, police said on Sunday. The arrests come a week after diplomats condemned violence against Muslims in Sri Lanka and urged the government to uphold minority rights and freedom of religion. Earlier, legislators blamed the government for failing to stop a spate of attacks on minority Muslims.More than 20 attacks on Muslims have been recorded since April 17, including arson at Muslim-owned businesses and petrol-bomb attacks on mosques while the police said at least 16 such cases had been reported since April.President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe have ordered police to uphold the law, but the violence against Muslims has not ended.Muslims, who account for around 9 percent of Sri Lanka's population of 21 million, have blamed the attacks on Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) or ...
Sri Lanka police have arrested five people including a member of a hardline Buddhist organization for instigating religious violence against Muslims and a Muslim for defaming Buddhism, police said on Sunday. The arrests come a week after diplomats condemned violence against Muslims in Sri Lanka and urged the government to uphold minority rights and freedom of religion. Earlier, legislators blamed the government for failing to stop a spate of attacks on minority Muslims.
More than 20 attacks on Muslims have been recorded since April 17, including arson at Muslim-owned businesses and petrol-bomb attacks on mosques while the police said at least 16 such cases had been reported since April.
President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe have ordered police to uphold the law, but the violence against Muslims has not ended.
Muslims, who account for around 9 percent of Sri Lanka's population of 21 million, have blamed the attacks on Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) or the "Buddhist Power Force", an organization that says the spread of Islam is a threat to Buddhism as the dominant religion. The group denies any involvement.
"The police was able to arrest a 32-year-old person who is directly related to four (arson) attacks," police spokesman Priyantha Jayakody told reporters adding that all four businesses were owned by Muslims. "This person has direct links with Bodu Bala Sena organization. Since 2014, he has been associating with the Bodu Bala Sena." Police arrested four more people including a Muslim who posted a Facebook post against Buddhism and a Tamil national who attacked a mosque.
Buddhists make up about 70 percent of the population, and analysts say some hardline Buddhist organizations have been spreading hate speech against Muslims and encouraging people to boycott Muslim shops.
The Buddhist groups accuse some Muslim organizations of radicalizing the community and forcefully converting people to Islam and vandalizing Buddhist archaeological sites. Muslim leaders have denied the claim. (Source. Reuters)
Full Article
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...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275607&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Archbishop Filomeno do Nascimento Vieira Dias of Angola's Archdiocese of Luanda. / Credit: Radio EcclesiaACI Africa, May 5, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Archbishop Filomeno do Nascimento Vieira Dias of Angola's Archdiocese of Luanda has asked the people of God under his pastoral care to dedicate the last Sunday of the month to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as part of the preparations for the Church's 2025 Jubilee Year. Pope Francis on Jan. 21 announced the start of a Year of Prayer in preparation for the Church's 2025 Jubilee Year, the second in his pontificate after the extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2015."Following the Holy Father's call, as an archdiocese, we will be holding adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on the last Sunday of each month in all parishes and, in alternate months, a meditation on the importance of prayer in the life of the Church," the archbishop said in his April 18 message.Eucharistic adoration, he said, facilitates "a true encounter with Chri...