Indian court blocks rule to divide eateries by religion
(UCAnews. Bijay Kumar Minj And AFP).
Activists have joined political leaders in condemning police in two states for demanding eateries display the names of their owners amid criticism that it creates a religious divide, particularly during the ongoing Hindu pilgrim season.
Church leaders meet Indian PM, raise concerns over ‘attacks’
(UCA news).
A delegation of Church leaders met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 12, a month after he was elected to power for the third consecutive term, and expressed concerns about the increasing hostility Christians face in the country.Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, led the four-member delegation along with federal minister Suresh Gopi, a parliamentarian elected from southern Kerala state and a member of Modi’s Bhartiya Janata Party. The 45-minute meeting at the prime minister’s office “was cordial, and the prime minister gave us a good hearing,” Thazhath told the media at the bishops’ conference office in New Delhi.
China to impose ‘strict governance’ on Protestant churches
Protestant Christians pledging allegiance to the government should do more to ensure strict implementation of rules on religions, top officials of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) told top Christian leaders, says a report.
(UCAnews).
Vatican approves sainthood process of first Korean cardinal
(UCA news).
The Vatican has allowed the launch of the sainthood process for Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, the first Korean cardinal known for his initiatives in interfaith dialogue and lay participation.The Archdiocese of Seoul said in a statement on July 5 that it has received the “no objection” letter from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints to start the process.
(ucanews. reporter).
The Vatican has allowed the launch of the sainthood process for Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, the first Korean cardinal known for his initiatives in interfaith dialogue and lay participation.
Church is ‘still alive’ in Iraq, say archbishops
(UCA News. Gina Christian).
“We are like an olive tree; no matter what happens to us, they can cut everything, but in the end, we are here, we stay here … and as a church, we do everything to give a sign of hope, to help the (Iraqi Christian) people stay here in this land,” said Archbishop Nizar Semaan of the Syriac Catholic Eparchy of Hadiab-Erbil.
Pakistan court sentences Christian youth to death
(Kamran Chaudhry. UCA news).
Christians stand at the door of their newly reconstructed houses in Jaranwala on Oct. 12, 2023. More than 80 Christian homes and 26 churches were vandalized in a riot in Jaranwala in Punjab province.
A court in Pakistan has sentenced a 22-year-old Christian to death, convicting him of offending Muslims’ religious sentiment that allegedly resulted in last year’s anti-Christian riot in Punjab province’s Jaranwala city.
(ucanews. AFP Tokio).
Japan’s top court ruled on July 3 that a defunct eugenics law under which thousands of people were forcibly sterilized between 1948 and 1996 was unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court also declared that a 20-year statute of limitations could not be applied, paving the way for compensation claims from victims after years of legal battles.
(UCA news. Paulina Guzik).
In what he said was the most dramatic moment of his eight visits to Ukraine, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, papal almoner, appealed from a Ternopil cemetery that the world needs to help Ukraine without further delays so that the “nonsense of war” stops. Without mentioning Russia by name, he also said that for those who cause war, “if only someone will go down to his knees and ask for forgiveness, Jesus won’t be tired of our sins. He will forgive everything.” Cardinal Krajewski arrived June 25 in the western city of Lviv, Ukraine, and on June 26, he left for Ternopil at dawn, as he recounted in a voice message sent to OSV News.
(Jonathan Luxmoore. UCA News).
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández celebrated Mass for ordination of first Bishop of Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham
The first bishop of a special diocese in Great Britain created for Catholics of the Anglican tradition has welcomed the pope’s show of support and predicted the fledgling Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham will continue growing and strengthening.
(UCA news).
A post-synodal circular said all rebelling priests would have to follow a synod-approved Mass after a certain period
Pacts achieved to settle the vexed liturgy dispute in India’s Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church collapsed again when the Church’s synod allegedly altered the agreements and refused to withdraw its earlier circular that threatened to excommunicate priests who failed to follow the Church’s official liturgical rubrics.
(UCANews reporter).
Pacts achieved to settle the vexed liturgy dispute in India’s Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church collapsed again when the Church’s synod allegedly altered the agreements and refused to withdraw its earlier circular that threatened to excommunicate priests who failed to follow the Church’s official liturgical rubrics.
Most priests and laity in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church have rejected the synod formula for resolving the crisis, saying it unilaterally modified resolutions agreed by both sides during the two sessions of the Synod.
(UCANews reporter).
A top Vatican official visiting Lebanon has said that he will participate in discussions on the socio-economic and political issues the country faces and assured assistance towards solving them, says a report.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, made his remarks after his arrival in Beirut on June 23 to begin his five-day state visit, Lebanon’s government-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.
“There is great concern in terms of politics in Lebanon and the economic crisis that affects the poor, namely the political crisis, the institutional crisis, and the problem of electing the president,” Parolin said.
(UCANews. Saji Thomas).
A liturgy dispute that pushed India’s eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church to the verge of a split has been settled following concessions from both parties, said a bishop who attended the synod meeting that achieved the breakthrough.
“Subject to the Vatican’s approval, the dispute is settled. The breakthrough came after both sides agreed to accommodate each other. The official announcement will be made in a day or two,” said a bishop who attended the July 19 Synod of Bishops.
The five-decade-long dispute in the Syro-Malabar Church, based in southern Indian Kerala state, intensified three years ago after most priests and Catholics in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese refused to accept the rubrics of a mass approved by the synod.
(UCANews reporter).
A Uyghur Muslim woman has been sentenced to an additional 14-year prison term for allegedly teaching the Quran to teenagers following a decade in jail, says a report.
Heyrinisa Memet was sentenced on June 11 for imparting religious instructions to the youths in 2014, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on June 18.
Memet had provided religious instructions to the children at the request of her neighbors, the director of security of Zulkum village in Kashgar prefecture, who wished to be unidentified over fears of reprisals, said.
(UCA News Reporter).
Indian Cardinal Anthony Poola has pledged the Christian community’s support for the new government in southern Andhra Pradesh state that unseated a Christian-led government in the recently concluded polls.
N. Chandrababu Naidu was sworn in as state chief minister on June 12 for the fourth time. He heads a coalition government comprising his Telugu Desam Party (TDP), regional Jana Sena party, and the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In a letter to the new chief minister, Cardinal Poola assured “support of the Catholic Church and the Christian community” to make the state “inclusive and sustainable.”
(Junno Arocho Esteves. UCAnews).
Cardinal Arborelius of Stockholm concerned about calls to include ‘so-called right to abortion into Sweden’s constitution’
Sweden’s Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Stockholm called on the country’s Catholics to engage others in meaningful ways to protect the lives of the unborn.
Following a recent vote to include abortion in the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights, Cardinal Arborelius said that “as Catholic Christians, we can choose different approaches to advocating for the inviolability of life and human rights, justice, and peace.”
“The important thing is that one truly engages in various ways, in words and actions, to try to save the lives of the most vulnerable among us,” he wrote in a statement released June 10 by the Diocese of Stockholm.
(UCAnews reporter).
Some 300 Christians marched on the legislature in Pakistan’s Punjab province at the weekend, joining global calls for the repeal of the country’s draconian blasphemy laws days after a specChristian lynching victim died in hospital.
During the protest on June 8 in Lahore, the provincial capital, the protesters condemned the government for failing to stop recurrent Muslim mob attacks based on false allegations of blasphemy.
The demonstrators placed lit candles on a table around a picture of Nazir Masih, the 74-year-old Christian who died on June 3 days after a Muslim mob attacked and injured him in Punjab’s Sargodha district.
(UCANews. Bijay Kumar Minj And Nirendra Dev).
Catholic bishops have appealed to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make his new term “inclusive” by treating all citizens equally and upholding the country’s constitutional values.
Modi was sworn in for another five-year term on June 9 after his pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with the help of allies, secured 293 seats in the Indian parliament.
The coalition government was formed after the BJP, accused of following a Hindu-first policy, failed to win the required simple majority of 272 seats in the 543-seat Lok Sabha (lower house).
(UCANews. Aftab Alexander Mughal, OSV News).
After being severely beaten by a Muslim mob May 25 in Sargodha, about 150 miles south of Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, a Christian man died on June 3 in a Rawalpindi hospital. Nazir Masih was 72.
June 3 videos from Sargodha showed Christians carrying Masih’s coffin through the street. They shouted “Praise to Jesus” and “Jesus is great.” The casket was draped in black cloth and bore a small crucifix, ABC News reported.
The Christian man died despite twice undergoing surgery and was buried in the city of Sargodha, in eastern Punjab province, amid tight security, said district police officer Assad Ijaz Malhi, according to ABC News.