NAGERCOIL, Tamil Nadu (SAR NEWS) — The South West monsoon, which has set over Tamil Nadu, damaged about 23 houses of Christian fish workers belonging to the parish of Muloorthurai in Kottar Diocese, June 10.

The furious waves intruded into the village and damaged the houses of the fish workers. Alby, a fish worker, had his leg fractured in a wall collapse, as part of his house was swept away in the rain.

The coastal parishes of Muloorthurai, Ramanthurai, Puthenthurai, Enayam and Midalam of Kottar diocese and Erayamanthurai and Chinnathurai of Trivandrum dioceses suffered heavy damage by sea erosion of the coastal beaches by the ferocious waves. Fish workers who live along the shore have moved to safer places.

Muloorthurai parish priest Father Felix Alexander said there was inordinate delay in constructing breakwater walls in the parish and in the absence of such precautionary measures, the waves could easily enter the villages causing heavy damage to houses and materials of their the workers’ livelihood.

He appealed to the government authorities to act on a war-footing to find a proper solution to the natural calamity. Meanwhile, the government authorities have dumped boulders to check the intensity of the waves.

About 60,000 fish workers were affected by the merciless waves as they could not venture into the sea for a week. Men go for fishing while women are engaged in retail marketing of fish.

Various associations of fish workers have demanded construction of breakwater walls and reinforcement of the existing groynes. They have also sought a permanent solution to sea erosion.

By Predhuman K. Joseph Dhar,

JAMMU, Jammu & Kashmir (SAR NEWS) – It is true that there are Christian members of parliament but their performance over the years has proved beyond any shadow of doubt that they justify to what William Shakespeare had said long ago: “What is there in a name.” Maybe, they are scared of speaking for the Christian community, or they are trying to prove they are secular to the hilt.

In contrast, the Muslim MPs speak for their community, irrespective of their party affiliations. This should serve as a model for the Christian MPs, legislators and corporators.
Asaduddin Owaisi scored a century of questions on the floor of the Lok Sabha during the February-May Budget Session 2010. Perhaps, this is the first time a Muslim parliamentarian has asked more than 100 questions in a single session. He is a Hyderabad MP of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party. This is the third time in a row that Owaisi leads Muslim MPs in the report card on floor performance.

Though cumulatively Muslim Lok Sabha members have asked far more questions in this session than in some last sessions put together, the majority still have remained silent. Of the 30 Muslim Lok Sabha members, 16 remained silent in the 32-day session spread over three months, probably taking cue from the Christian MPs. The 16 include four ministers. The non-speakers include 7 members of the Congress, 3 from the Trinamool Congress, 2 each from the Bahujan Samaj Party and the National Conference and 1 each from the Muslim League and the Janata Dal (United).

Among the top performers are Owaisi (102), J.M. Aaroon Rasheed (64), Shahnawaz Hussain (62), E.T. Muhammed Basheer (40) and M.I. Shanavas (40). What is good is that consistent performers have far improved their own performance, resulting in 430 questions asked by Muslim MPs in the session that started on February 22, 2010, and ended on May 7, 2010. In the November-December 2009 session, the total number of questions asked by them was 167 and only 84 in the July-August 2009 session.

The Sachar Commission Report favours the Muslims and the Christians have been left high and dry. Of the share of minorities, over 85 per cent goes to the Muslims and a meagre less than 2 per cent goes to the Christians. In government jobs, the share of the Muslims is rising steadily on the back of the Prime Minister’s 2007 directive to focus on their employment. This is what the latest government data reveals. The last three years have seen a significant rise in government recruitment of Muslims, 6.9 per cent in 2007 to 8.3 per cent in 2008 and 9.24 per cent last year.

Between 2008 and 2009, the share of Muslims on government rolls increased 24 per cent. The PM’s directive in 2007 came after the Sachar Committee, which probed the disadvantages faced by Muslims. According to its findings in 2006, Muslims held fewer than 5 per cent of government posts.

What have the Church and Christian leaders done to improve the welfare of the community? How have the clergy and the faithful fared compared to Muslims in pushing the community forward in public life? It is time for us to introspect.

KOCHI, Kerala (SAR NEWS) — Kerala Catholic bishops have urged the state chief minister, V.S. Achuthanandan, to stop making statements that disturb peace and communal harmony.
They were reacting to the chief minister’s recent tirade on the minority communities that they were increasingly becoming sectarian in their outlook. He had also said minority communalism was on the rise in the state.

Terming as “unfortunate” Achuthanandan’s comments, Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) June 10 said those in power should refrain from issuing such statements.
Speaking to reporters here after a three-day meeting of the Council, KCBC president Bishop Joshua Mar Ignathios said minority communities, especially Christians, had always respected the majority community, the Hindus.

He said Christians had sacrificed immeasurably for the development of the state and they would continue to do so. He said everyone had a responsibility to safeguard religious harmony.
Achuthanandan had on June 1 charged the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) of appeasing communalism with an eye on the Assembly polls to be held early next year.
“Moves to win the support of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and the merger of Kerala Congress factions under pressure from the Church are clear indications of the way the UDF is moving,” he had said.

Bishop Ignathios also raised the problems faced by the education sector. He said those in power had the responsibility to permanently solve the problems in the self-financing educational sector.

SAMBALPUR, Orissa (SAR NEWS) — Police arrested three Christian pastors on conversion charges at Amapalli Deogarh in Sambalpur district of Orissa, June 9, while they were administering baptism to some people.

According to All India Christian Council, New Delhi, some villagers of Amapalli requested pastors Lamuel Patnaik, Philemon Naag and Sudhir Nag for baptism. While they were giving baptism to those who had already embraced Christianity, a group of villagers descended on the scene around 12 noon and raised objections. The matter was reported to the police who rushed to the spot and stopped the ceremony.

All the three pastors were into police custody for further interrogation.

General secretary of Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, Arun Panalal, condemned the arrest of the pastors saying “the fundamental rights of the villagers to practise the religion of their choice have been stifled.”

He said the Christian Forum has demanded protection to the pastors, besides ensuring successful completion of the baptism ceremony under tight police security.

Orissa has the Freedom of Religion Act, 1967. Under this law, the Christian minority community has been attacked by religious fanatics. It does not allow any civilian to practise or change to the religion of his/her choice without informing the district magistrate.

By SAR NEWS

MANGALORE, Karnataka (SAR NEWS) — The changing times have made teenage risky for children and students. It is at this age that they are prone to different elements that may make their personalities complicated and sickly. So they need to be counseled and guided to develop a healthy personality.

Aiming at achieving this growth is a new concept of ‘Campus Counseling’ being executed in educational institutions, especially high schools, pre-university and graduate and colleges.

The Pastoral Institute of the Diocese of Mangalore in collaboration with Shanthi Kiran Counseling Centre has successfully completed training the first batch of eleven counselors for ten months (from June 2009 to March 2010). Most of the trained counselors have been appointed ‘Campus Counselors’ in different educational institutions of the undivided South Kanara District like Shirva, Udupi, Padua, Urva and Bendure, as full-timers. Now, the training institutes are ready with more experience and interest to train the second batch of counselors.

The training titled ‘Campus Pastoral Counseling Course’ is aimed at forming Campus Counselors and ministers who can accompany the students during their critical life journey on the campus. He/she would be a person with sound spirituality, fair knowledge of human sciences, Christian doctrines and good values who would help the student to be a balanced personality.

There are 11 faculty members and 8 visiting lecturers. Dr. Lawrence Mendonca, Dr. Premanand, Dr. Lovina Noronha, Dr. J.B. Saldanha, Dr. Stany Goveas, Father Vincent Monteiro, Father Roque D’Sa, Father Boniface Pinto, Father Vijay Victor Lobo, Sister Carmelita UFS, and Rolphy Mascarenhas are the members of the faculty.

The training includes sixty-five credits with 975 hours of theory and practice. While just 345 hours are used for the theological subjects, 630 hours are used for psychology and counseling. They have been supported through audio/video recordings, verbatim transcriptions and evaluations by the supervisors.

While the course includes psycho-spiritual subjects like Pastoral Theology and Ministries, Social Analysis and Skills, Theology, Scriptures, Catechetics and Moral Science, Media and Technical Arrangements, an emphatic thrust is on Psychology and Counseling in the student situation. It would include elements like meaning and scope of counseling; process, skills and systems of counseling; ethics and dynamics of group counseling; principles and opportunities of career counseling, etc. Special credits have been included with regard to trauma and care, CISD; mass media, its effects and best use; substance abuse, pornography and related problems; effects of migrant families and single parents on the youth and students.

According to Father Vincent Monteiro, the course coordinator and director of the Pastoral Institute, negotiations are on to affiliate the training centre to Martin Luther Christian University based in Meghalaya. He hopes the official Certificate of Diploma would be soon given by the University. The training of the second batch would begin on June 15, 2010. More details can be had from the Pastoral Institute at 0824-2223877 / 2225177.)

By Fr. Robert B. D’Souza, SAR NEWS

PUNE, Maharastra (SAR NEWS) — “Subodh Bible”, a new Marathi edition of the Bible in simple and yet standard Marathi by senior writer and socio-religious thinker, Father Francis D’Britto, is another stepping stone in the history of Bible translation.

Archbishop of Bombay Cardinal Oswald Gracias has hailed the new edition as a “milestone in the history of Christianity in Vasai and a feather in the cap of the Diocese of Vasai.”

Renowned Scripture scholar Dr. Francis Pereira SJ described it as “a Mahagranth, which is an innovative, unique and successful experiment in the tradition of Bible translations in Marathi.”

According to the Oxford Dictionary’s survey of 2003, the Bible has been translated in more than 1,750 world languages. A part of the Bible was first translated by Major William Kerry in 1807. A single-handed first Marathi translation was completed by Pandita Ramabai in 1924. Ever since, “Subodh Bible” is the first of its kind edited by Father D’Britto after a thorough research and study for 20 long years.

For this monumental work, he has consulted the most recent biblical commentaries, dictionaries, books, concordances as well experts and scholars in biblical languages like Hebrew and Greek. The editor has arranged the books of the “Old Testament” in eleven “parvas” and has rewritten the entire “New Testament” in heart-stirring Marathi language. He has managed to present the Bible in a new form without sacrificing the truth enshrined in the original biblical passages.

Though the project was undertaken initially to meet the demands of our non-Christian Marathi-speaking brethren, the final outcome has come up to meet a scholarly need and equally pastoral hunger of the Christians as well. A voluminous work consisting of 1,100 pages includes 100 colours as well as black and white pictures and paintings rarely found in any of the recent Bible translations. This is further supplemented by some important maps for a clearer view of Biblical geography. A well-studied General Introduction to the Bible, comprehensive introductions to every section and each book of the Bible and finally, the rich footnotes in almost every chapter are some of the special features of “Subodh Bible.”

The edition takes surveys of various theological movements in Christianity such as Liberation Theology Movement, Feminist Theology Movement, etc., and their influence on Bible translations. The editor has also painstakingly incorporated the journey of Biblical art such as music, operas, paintings, films, sculptures, frescoes, mosaics, window glass paintings, novels, plays, etc. While maintaining the scholarly caliber of the text, Father D’Britto has taken utmost care to feed the hunger and thirst of a sincerer seeker of truth. At times he provides with deep and profound spiritual insights from Christian saints as well as religious thinkers including some Maharashtrian poets.

In his foreword to the “Subodh Bible”, Bishop Thomas Dabre of Vasai has evaluated this work from the point of view of Christian Literature and has appealed to the readers to handle this historic work with faith and studious mind.

The Rajhans Prakashan of Pune is well known for its literary contributions in the Marathi Sahitya Vishwa. The publisher, Dilip Mazgaokar, and the editor, Anand Hardikar of Rajhans Prakashan, have gone out of their way to make this groundbreaking work see the light of the day.

“Subodh Bible” will be officially released on June 20, 2010, at 9.30 a. m. at Father Bhandare Hall, Devtalao, Vasai, in the presence of Archbishop Felix Machado, Dr. Narendra Jadhav and many other eminent personalities from the fields of biblical studies and Marathi literature.

(The writer is a member of the Pune Papal Seminary).

JAMMU, Jammu & Kashmir (SAR NEWS) — Two schools in Kuwara district have been shut down by the authorities for allegedly including lessons and pictures of Jesus Christ in the curriculum.

Reports reaching here June 1 from Kuwara, 104 kilometres from Srinagar, the state capital, said the schools functioning under the name of “Voice of Aqra Educational Institute” and “Sunshine Public School” along the Line of Control (LOC) were sealed “for trying to lure students to the institutions by preaching Christianity”, as the authorities put it.

An inquiry has been ordered into the charges.

The schools have reportedly introduced the Vikas series of English textbooks that contain pictures of Jesus Christ and as such are in contravention to the Islamic tradition that forbids keeping of pictures of any sort.

To register their protest against the alleged blasphemous practices adopted by the schools, people in large numbers from Kupwara town and adjoining villages of Villagam, Tarathpora, Kralapora and Trehgam took to the streets shouting slogans against the school administration and demanded stringent action against them.

Vehicles went off the streets and government office and educational institutions were closed down.

It is reported that the District Adminstration immediately swung into action and a team of officers was deputed to the two institutions which sealed them and ordered a probe into the functioning of these schools. The principals of the two schools are reportedly absconding.Islamic tradition does not recognise Jesus Christ as the Son of God and also does not believe that he was either crucified or rose from the dead, as is contained in the Vikas series of English textbooks.This correspondent, on enquiry, learnt that the two schools are neither run by the Jammu-Srinagar Catholic Educational Society nor has any link with the schools run by the Church of North India.Catholic schools in the Valley have been facing rough weather for some time now. There was trouble in the Burn Hall School, Srinagar and St. Joseph’s School,

Baramulla, over the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission.

In 2003, Father Jim Borst of the Mill Hill Mission, London, who ran two schools at Pulwama and Shivpora, was served “leave India notice” by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed then, as it was alleged that the two schools were propagating Christianity in order to lure students.Later, buckling under pressure from Catholic groups, the government withdrew the expulsion order.

In 2009, a pastor, Cap. Matthew Sammuel, was arrested on charges of converting people to Christianity in the border areas of Samba, Kathua and Hiranagar in the Jammu division. A criminal charge under Section 153 RPC (creating hatred between religious communities) was slapped on him and he is facing trial in the Session’s Court, Jammu.SAR News tried to contact Abdul Gani Bhat, the principal of Sunshine Public School, but he was not available.

RAMESWARAM, Tamil Nadu (SAR NEWS) — A Christian prayer hall at Kambipadu in Dhanushkodi near here was demolished by revenue officials, May 28.

The action comes after Hindu Munnani (Hindu Front) lodged a complaint with the authorities that the prayer hall had been constructed in violation of a ban on new buildings in the area.

Hindu Munnani local unit leader Ramamurthy had complained that the government had banned new constructions in the area after tidal waves swept the area in 1964. Besides, strict rules banning construction near the sea was enforced after the tsunami in 2004.

He argued that there was no need for another church in the area as St. Anthony Church existed there for several decades and that a new church might create tension among people.

“We decided to put an end the problem right at the start of construction and demolished the church, which has been constructed in violation of government rules,” the officials said.

By Zygmunt Gutowsky, SAR NEWS

NIEPOKALANOW, Warsaw, Poland (SAR NEWS) -– An Indian priest was given the “Multimedia in the Service of the Gospel Award 2010″ at the solemn Eucharistic celebration inaugurating the silver jubilee of the longest running International Catholic Film Festival at Niepokalanow, May 27.

The first president of the festival, Zygmunt Gutowsky, and the current president, Danuta Stachyra, presented St. Maximillian Kolbe statuette with the inscription “Fr C.M. Paul, Multimedia in the Service of the Gospel, honorary prize of Julian Kluenty, Catholic Film association (CFA), Poland 2010.”
Calcutta province Salesian Father Paul is currently pursuing doctoral studies in Social Communications at the Salesian University, Rome.

Two prizes are offered in this category “for outstanding achievements both in Poland and abroad in the area of evangelisation through multimedia.”

This is the seventh year of the award dedicated to Polish film director, cameraman, author of over 100 films, as well as president for the Warsaw Branch of Polish Association of Scientific Film, Julian Kulenty (1922 – 2000).

The first year overseas award went to film director Mel Gibson of the “Passion of Christ” fame.

The second year award went to Mother Angelica of the EWTN, the third to Sister Angela Ann Zukowski president of Unda-World and founder director of the Centre for Religious Telecommunications, university of Dayton, Ohio.

“I am totally floored by this award,” says 56-year-old Father Paul in his brief presentation on receiving the award.

Besides being the last president of Unda/OCIC India, Father Paul was also the first president of Signis-India and first Catholic priest to be appointed to the Central Board of Film Certification, by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry of the Government of India.

The Niepokalanow festival is holding its 25th uninterrupted screening, May 27-30, some 45 km west of Warsaw, capital of Poland.

Last June, Father Paul won Father Horace Rosario SJ Journalism Award given by the Ambassadors for Jesus Calcutta and in 2008 Father John Barrett Award for best SAR News reporter given by the Indian Catholic Press Association, Bangalore.

The Niepokalanow (City of the Immaculate) film festival had its genesis in the heydays of “Solidarnosc” (Solidarity) the national resistance movement against the Polish Communist Regime, in 1985. A group of activists formed the Catholic Film Association of Poland as a cultural forum.

The festival started under the guise of a spiritual retreat in the Franciscan (OFM Conv.) monastery at Niepokalanow, the national shrine of Mary Immaculate and the headquarters of the “Militia Immaculate” (Army of the Immaculate).

Father Maximillian Kolbe founded the Franciscan monastery at Niepokalanow in 1927. After the fall of Communism, Poland had its first democratically elected government in 1989. The president of Poland, who recently died in airplane crash, was patron of the festival along with the Polish primate Cardinal Josef Glemp.

MUMBAI, Maharashtra (SAR NEWS) – Catholic Secular Forum (CSF), a Mumbai-based national activist community non-governmental organization, has launched a countrywide protest against Facebook and called upon the government of India to ensure that blasphemous pages of any and all religions are taken off the website.

In a press release here May 24, CSF general secretary Joseph Dias said a research by the forum had shown a number of pages on the social networking site Facebook, especially in the ‘F***’ series, were worse than the ‘Draw the Prophet’ pages, which were being protested by Muslims throughout the world.

“These pages hurt the sensibilities of the followers of various faiths and must be taken off forthwith. CSF joins the protesting Muslims, especially since Jesus Christ is also considered a prophet in Islam and respect the desire of Muslims not to have a depiction of their prophet, as per the tenets of their faith,” Dias stated.

Facebook has a number of venerable figures and religions ridiculed, saying religion is not above criticism.
Links for these sites available with the CSF have been forwarded to the Union government for immediate action of getting the same removed from the website.

“These web pages are highly offensive to religious sentiments and hence the call for action,” the CSF release said.

The forum also called upon Facebook to tender an unconditional apology to the world for hurting the religious sentiments of millions of followers of different faiths.

It urged Sonia Gandhi, the chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance that heads the government at the Centre, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resolve the issue by blocking the website.

“CSF is not for banning Facebook or its related websites, as it would adversely affect the interests of millions, many of whom are dependent on the Internet for their living, business, networking, etc. Sites like this must, however, be held responsible for objectionable content to prevent the potential disastrous consequences of their actions,” the release said.