Catholic Church in India petitioned the Supreme Court to protect Christians
New Delhi, India, Sep 4, 2008 - The Catholic Church in India has petitioned the country's Supreme Court to protect Christian lives and property in Orissa state.Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar told the Asian church news agency UCA News Sept. 2 that the church decided to approach the highest court "as we are not getting sufficient response" from the Orissa government.
The archbishop, whose archdiocese is in Orissa, said the church wants the court to order federal authorities to protect Christians in the eastern state.
"We want some clear help and response" from the government, added the archbishop, who has stayed in New Delhi since the violence broke out in Orissa Aug. 24.
The church petition seeks the deployment of sufficient riot police in villages where Hindu extremists continue to destroy churches and Christian buildings. It also demands that the Central Bureau of Investigation, the country's criminal investigative agency, probe the violence.
In addition to its regular judicial duties, the Supreme Court of India can take action if individuals file a petition with a question of public importance that needs the court's involvement.
Archbishop Cheenath said the attacks have now decreased, since "there are no more targets to attack." But in several villages Christians reportedly have been forced to sign documents declaring they are Hindus and have been asked to destroy their churches and other Christians' houses afterward.
The archbishop told UCA News all Christian institutions have been destroyed in the Kandhamal district, the worst-hit area of Orissa. The violence began there after suspected Maoists gunned down an 85-year-old Hindu religious leader and five associates Aug. 23. Hindu radicals targeted Christians, claiming they had masterminded the killings.
A probe into the situation by the Central Bureau of Investigation is necessary because "there seems a hide-and-seek game" in the whole matter, especially regarding the Hindu leader's killing, said the archbishop.
"Let the truth come out and the guilty be punished," he said.
The state government has ordered a judicial probe, but the archbishop said the church suspects this report would be biased against Christians.
The church also wants India's National Human Rights Commission to study the Orissa violence. He recalled that the commission went to Orissa when Christians were attacked in Kandhamal last Christmas, but the state administration did not allow commission members to visit the affected villages.
Archbishop Cheenath said the church petition also asks that individuals be compensated for their losses, such as $9,000 for fully destroyed homes and half that amount for damaged homes.
He welcomed media reports about the prime minister promising relief packages and compensation from his emergency fund for the Orissa victims.
"But all this should be implemented in reality," he added.
Archbishop Cheenath said he sees the attacks as the fruit of "hate campaigns" Hindu radical groups have carried out in Orissa for the past 25 to 30 years. People "are poisoned and have lost their capacity to think correctly," he added.
Political parties allowed the radical groups to grow for the parties' vested interests, and "now they can't control them," he said.
- CNS
More than 600 churches have been demolished in India
India, Sep.1, 2008 - One week after the beginning of the violence in Orissa, thousands of people, most of them Christian, are still hiding in the forests or have found refuge in the shelter camps set up by the government.According to the latest figures, there are at least 6,000 people in the refugee camps, and 5,000 hiding in the forests around Kandhamal, but the number of refugees could soon reach 10,000. Today, in Bhubaneswar, a protest demonstration is planned in front of the state government headquarters in Orissa, organized by the activists of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), following the closing of Catholic schools yesterday all over India. About 25,000 institutes closed their doors, while the students and teachers marched peacefully through the streets of the country calling for an end to the violence against Christians.
Meanwhile, the number of victims of the violence continues to increase: "We have received authentic information that the death toll is 100", says Dr Sajan George, national president of the GCIC, "and more butchered bodies and burnt corpes are being found". The Christian activist is also calling for the resignation of the entire government of Orissa, which is incapable of stopping the massacres against the Christian community. He provides an example: "In Bakingia, two families of seven Christians - Daniel Naik and Michael Naik and their families - were tortured and killed, their bodies were found with their heads pulped and smashed, they were recognised by their clothes. Bakingia is about 8 kilometers from Raikia police station".
The decision to close all of the Catholic schools yesterday and call for demonstrations - although peaceful - has raised attention, with serious new accusations being issued by the Hindu side. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the leading opposition party in India, heavily influenced by the fundamentalists, has condemned yesterday's school strike and accused the Catholics of "forcing non-Christian students to participate in the protest marches". Some institutes used "coercive means" - according to the BJP - against the "non-Christians, who were obliged to march with their classmates".
Meanwhile, raids continue outside of Orissa as well. Yesterday, in Madhya Pradesh, fanatics attacked five schools and a church, in retaliation against the closing of the buildings. The attacks took place in the districts of Gwaliar (three schools and a church) and Barwani (two schools), and only the swift intervention of the police was able to prevent serious damage to the buildings, or new victims. Security forces have, on the other hand, blocked a peaceful demonstration of the students from the school of St. Francis, for unspecified reasons of "public safety", although they were informed about the demonstration beforehand.
The Indian bishop of Vasai, Thomas Dabre, a member of the pontifical council for interreligious dialogue, confirms instead the "total paralysis" in the activity of the schools of his diocese. "Thousands of young people", the prelate emphasizes, "ended their march in front of the buildings of the bishop's residence. I told them to promote interreligious dialogue, and to and trust themselves completely to the protection of the Virgin Mary".
asianews
Pope Benedict XVI : the mission of the Church to bring Christ to all mankind
Castel Gandolfo, Aug. 25, 2008 - At his Angelus audience on Sunday, August 24, Pope Benedict XVI said that the mission of the Church-- to bring Christ to all mankind-- should never be identified with any nation or culture.In his remarks to the crowd gathered in the courtyard of the apostolic palace at Castel Gandolfo, the Holy Father reflected on the day's Gospel reading, with Peter's profession of faith and Jesus' reply: "You are Peter and upon this rock I shall build my Church."
"This is the first time that Jesus speaks of the Church," the Pope observed. As he gives Peter the commission to lead the Church, Jesus also indicates the purpose of the Petrine ministry: to build up the Church by protecting against division-- by serving as the one rock upon which the Christian community is founded.
The Pope told his audience that he felt the weight of this responsibility, and asked for the prayers of the faithful to help him with his duties. He underlined the importance of bringing Christ's offer of salvation to all of the world's people. "What blessings mankind would receive by accepting this offer, which brings joy and peace," the Pope said.
After leading the Angelus prayer, the Holy Father turned his attention to the international scene, remarking sadly on "a deeply worrisome rise in tensions" and a "progressive deterioration in the climate of trust and cooperation among nations." In what appeared to be a reference to the violence in South Ossetia he warned against a new rise of nationalism, reminding his audience that nationalism has produced "tragic consequences" in other cases.
Despite the dangers of current world events, the Pope said, "we must not give in to pessimism!" He urged recognition of "the moral force of law," and "fair and transparent negotiations" to resolve international tensions.
Above all, the Pope said, world leaders must resist "the temptation to meet new situations with old systems." To underscore his meaning he added: "Violence must be repudiated."
- CWNews.com
Catholic leaders: Church must become a missionary community with a new mentality
Catholic leaders at an international mission conference for the Americas said the church must become a missionary community with a new mentality.
The message for conference participants was that "we have to get involved if we're going to be true to the Gospel of Christ and make a difference in the world in which we're living," Bishop Patrick J. Zurek of Amarillo, Texas, told Catholic News Service.
The Third American Missionary Congress drew more than 2,000 laypeople, bishops, priests and religious to Quito, Ecuador, Aug. 12-17 to discuss challenges for mission, from family life and fundamentalism to ecology and science. Several participants talked to CNS by telephone during and after the conference.
The closing Mass marked the official launch of the "great continental mission" that bishops from Latin America and the Caribbean announced in May 2007 during their fifth general conference in Aparecida, Brazil.
That mission must build on "a spirit that was begun in Aparecida, the spirit of mission, of discipleship," Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Cisneros of Brooklyn, N.Y., told CNS.
Sister Mary McGlone, president of the U.S. Catholic Mission Association and a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, said, "The challenge for mission for Latin America is to move beyond the boundaries of Latin America, to go out" to the world.
According to statistics on the congress Web site, South America sends 5,785 missionaries to other countries and receives 12,011.
Bishop Cisneros said that being a missionary church means not just sending missionaries to remote areas, but "realizing that we are all missionaries. Even in our own parishes, we have to become those who ... listen, learn" and proclaim the Gospel.
Speaking on the first day of the conference, Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Mariadaga of Tegucigalpa said Catholics "must proclaim the good news of the kingdom in faithfulness and strength, especially because there are many who oppose it out of ambition for power, love of wealth or desire for pleasure."
The cardinal said disciples must "be willing to renounce all they have had until now, to carry out the mission of propagating the faith both within and beyond the borders of the country."
Cardinal Rodriguez said the Catholic Church in Latin America must reach out to people who "do not know the full manifestation of the love of God" incarnated in Jesus and must go beyond national borders "to the growing multitude of those who do not know Christ."
At the same time, he said, "as evangelizers, we are concerned about so many men and women who for various reasons ... have become strangers to the faith or to religious meaning."
At last year's meeting in Aparecida, the bishops expressed concern about both the headway made by evangelical groups in the region and the number of Catholics who have become unchurched. One goal of the continental mission is to invite Catholics back into the church.
Sister Mary said it is important to note that the bishops spoke of a "continental mission," not just a Latin American effort. That poses the "challenge of seeing how this experience of interchange can help us become one church in America," she said.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Latin American bishops' council, known as CELAM, work closely together in many areas. For the past decade, Bishop Zurek said, the prelates on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border have met several times a year to discuss common concerns, especially ministry to migrants.
However, the U.S. bishops have not yet established an office to coordinate the continental mission with Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean, and it is not clear what form the effort will take.
Bishop Zurek said the continental mission should provide an opportunity to emphasize issues of common concern, such as migration, globalization and economic justice.
One challenge is to get Catholics in the United States "involved with the issues of South America," he said. "Can we make a difference with our government, in the sense of the way we do politics, or with our economic community, in the way we do business in Latin America, so that people will not have to leave to come and find work in our country?"
By including the U.S. and Canadian church leaders in the continental mission, he said, "we are saying we are one America, we are one family, we are one church."
Source: CNS
United Church of Christ minister inspired by Pope John Paul II
The Rev. Jim Peck has an unusual background for a United Church of Christ minister.He was raised Southern Baptist, began his working career as a regional planner and was inspired to become a pastor by Pope John Paul II.
Peck arrived in Chico in May after being called by the Congregational Church of Chico. The church on East First Avenue has had an interim pastor for several years.
Peck said he's glad to be in Chico and excited about his new position. He'll be formally installed at a special service on Sept. 14.
Born in North Carolina, he later moved with his family to Atlanta, where he went to high school and college.
He and his parents belonged to a "non-fundamentalist" Southern Baptist Church, "a wonderful church with a loving, caring spirit," he said. "I got a great education understanding the Bible."
He also developed an open mind, he said, as his parents and pastor advised him, "Don't let anybody tell you it's just one way."
Peck majored in urban studies at Mercer University and then did graduate work in regional planning at Cornell.
He worked in Atlanta for 10 years, specializing in affordable housing. He was employed by the state Housing Department.
In 1990, Peck went to work as an adviser to Colorado Gov. Roy Romer. He had 28 "issue areas" on which he advised the governor. One area was "church-state issues."
"That was a great job," he said. However, he'd gone into politics with the goal of helping people and after a time, he felt he was no longer doing much of that. He began thinking of a different career — perhaps law, perhaps the ministry.
As it happened, Pope John Paul II came to Denver for a World Youth Day, and Peck was given two tickets. He and a friend went and found themselves sitting right in front of the stage. At one point they were just six feet from the pope.
It was amazing, being part of that event, where 350,000 people from all over the world were standing and singing, he said. "This clinched the deal" on a next move.
Peck said he told his friend, "I think I need to become a minister."
The vision he had was of "individual folks acting out of their faith commitments to help each other build a better world," he said.
Peck graduated in 1999 with a master's of divinity from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.
His first position was as pastor of a Congregational church in Austin, Minn., where he served until moving to Chico.
In Austin, he profited by his involvement with other ministers, he said. "I'm from a liberal tradition, but, boy, I sure have learned a lot from listening to my evangelical colleagues."
Peck said he joined the United Church of Christ before moving to Colorado. "I needed to be in a church that was a little more attentive to social-justice issues, especially race," he said.
Members of his Chico congregation impress him with their seriousness about Jesus' commandment to "love one another," he said. "It's a good church, a good group of folks."
He added, "I like the idea of helping a small church grow and thrive."