Half a million Catholics in India petition government for better living conditions
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=273488&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
A man tends to his goats in a village in Kerala, India. / Credit: ShutterstockCNA Staff, Feb 6, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).Hundreds of thousands of Indian Catholics are petitioning the government to improve living conditions there.The Syro-Malabar Catholic Congress presented Kerala state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with the petition late last month after a major signature campaign, one meant to address what the congress described as "unprecedented crises" facing the Christian community there.Vijayan "was very concerned and assured to consider our demands," Catholic Congress President Biju Parayannilam told UCA News this month. "Around half a million Catholics" in Kerala signed the petition, UCA News said. "Ordinary people are struggling to eke out a living and we want the government to focus its attention on their problems," Father Philip Kaviyil, director of the Catholic Congress' global committee, told the news outlet. Among the demands presented to th...
A man tends to his goats in a village in Kerala, India. / Credit: Shutterstock
CNA Staff, Feb 6, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
Hundreds of thousands of Indian Catholics are petitioning the government to improve living conditions there.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Congress presented Kerala state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with the petition late last month after a major signature campaign, one meant to address what the congress described as "unprecedented crises" facing the Christian community there.
Vijayan "was very concerned and assured to consider our demands," Catholic Congress President Biju Parayannilam told UCA News this month.
"Around half a million Catholics" in Kerala signed the petition, UCA News said.
"Ordinary people are struggling to eke out a living and we want the government to focus its attention on their problems," Father Philip Kaviyil, director of the Catholic Congress' global committee, told the news outlet.
Among the demands presented to the government was the timely delivery of social security payments. Elderly citizens in the state are given the equivalent of about $20 per month from the government, but they "are not getting it on time, making their life miserable," the priest said.
Farmers are also reportedly struggling to make ends meet while also dealing with wild animal attacks.
Parayannilam said the activists were "hopeful that the government will make some positive announcement regarding our demands in the current budget session of the state assembly."
Vatican News noted that Christians make up about 20% of the local population in Kerala, with the Christian community there tracing its ancient roots to St. Thomas the Apostle.
The Syro-Malabar Church is one of the 23 autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome. Based in Kerala, it has more than 4 million members worldwide, making it the second-biggest Eastern Catholic church after the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
Full Article
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275709&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
St. Stanislaus of Szczepanów is depicted as the patron saint of Poland in a miniature painted by Stanislaw Samostrzelnik of Mogila. / Credit: Polona Digital Library|Wikimedia|PD-ArtWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 8, 2024 / 16:53 pm (CNA).Pope Francis during his Wednesday general audience invoked the intercession of St. Stanislaus, patron saint of Poland, for peace in Ukraine and Israel.Addressing Polish pilgrims in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, the pope said: "Today you celebrate the solemnity of St. Stanislaus, bishop and martyr, patron of your homeland.""St. John Paul II wrote of him," Francis went on, "that from high in heaven, he shared in the sufferings and hopes of your nation, sustaining its survival, especially during the Second World War."Francis prayed that the intercession of St. Stanislaus "obtain, even today, the gift of peace in Europe and throughout the world, especially in Ukraine and the Middle East."What does Poland have to do with these wars? This co...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275708&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
null / Credit: ShutterstockCNA Staff, May 8, 2024 / 17:23 pm (CNA).A trio of Catholic radio networks has filed a petition against the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over new requirements that will soon mandate that all U.S. radio and television stations publish information about the race and gender of their employees.In a 3-2 ruling in February, the commissioners of the FCC reinstated a requirement that radio stations must annually file a document, known as Form 395-B, that lists the race and gender of their employees.The FCC governs radio stations transmitting on AM or FM frequencies, satellite radio and TV stations, cable networks, and broadcast TV stations. These entities are required to maintain a summary of publicly accessible information known as a public file, with varying requirements among the types of stations regarding what must be contained in the file.The FCC had not required Form 395-B since 2004, following a 2001 ruling by t...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275707&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Servant of God Nino Baglieri. / Credit: ANS/SalesiansACI Prensa Staff, May 8, 2024 / 17:53 pm (CNA).The diocesan phase of the cause of beatification of the Servant of God Nino Baglieri has been closed in Modica, a town in southern Sicily. Overcoming his bitterness due to his quadriplegic condition, Baglieri gave himself to the mission of evangelizing through the means available to him. The closing of the diocesan phase, according to the Salesian News Agency, took place on Sunday, May 5, in Mother of St. Peter church, where a solemn Eucharist was celebrated by Salvatore Rumeo, the bishop of Noto. In his homily, the prelate related that on May 5, 1951, Baglieri received baptism, "becoming a Christian."Regarding the servant of God, he emphasized that "prayer for Nino was everything: Despite his suffering, like a light that shines and burns, he managed to infect others with the meaning of true prayer."Addressing the servant of God in prayer, Rumeo said: "We are grateful t...