Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity Targeted by Hindoo Extremists

5 July, 2006
INDIA
Andhra Pradesh: Sisters of Mother Teresa forgive, bishop slams BJP politics
by Nirmala Carvalho

The four nuns who were held up by an extremist mob for their alleged proselytising forgive their aggressors and do not press charges. The bishop of Hyderabad talks to AsiaNews about Hindu fundamentalists’ plan against Christians in Andhra Pradesh.

Hyderabad (AsiaNews) – Echoing the words of the founder of the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Priscilla from the Mother House in Kolkata told AsiaNews that deeds accomplished with love are deeds that build peace. She was commenting the June 25 attack against four fellow sisters in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. On that occasion, Sisters Maria Julia, Chriselda, Emma Felesia and Reena Francis were held up inside a government hospital by a mob of more than 300 angry Hindus who accused them of proselytising.

The sisters of Mother Teresa, who had gone to the hospital to carry out their regular and duly authorised weekly visit, were arrested by the police. They were freed only late in the evening after the metropolitan archbishop of Hyderabad, Mgr Marampudi Joji, intervened on their behalf.

“The sisters,” the prelate told AsiaNews “have not pressed charges against anyone, but the police sent an agent to their House, who, in a threatening manner, tried to get them to sign a statement. The missionaries refused saying they were prepared to forgive those responsible for what happened.”

For Archbishop Joji, the attack was clearly politically motivated. He explained to AsiaNews that the mob was made up of members of India’s main Hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Hindu Dharma Parirakshana Samithi (a self-styled group for the defence of the Hindu religion).

“Hindu fundamentalism wants to raise fears among the people with respect to Christians,” he said. “For this reason, they accuse them of proselytising and working behind the scenes to distort the country’s nature. The reality is that elections are coming up and the BJP is trying its best to discredit the current Congress Party-dominated government”.

The attack against the nuns of Mother Teresa is not the only weapon used by Hindu fundamentalists. According to reliable sources, they are organising a demonstration in the capital on July 11 “to raise awareness in the population about the ‘Christian danger’ which is working in favour of proselytising with the tacit approval of the government”.

“After the demonstration, they are planning to ask the government to pass a law that would make the Hind temples in Tirupati and Tirumala independent,” the prelate said.

“All of a sudden,” he explained mockingly, “they found that some Christians work inside the temple and now accuse them of spying and working for the conversion of the whole state. The same thing is happening in two universities in Tirupati, where, if they are to be believed, Christians got jobs only in order to convert people”.

www.asianews.it

The Great Feast of Pentecost!

Pentecost


The term Pentecost, from the Greek Πεντηκοστή, meaning "fiftieth day," refers to the fiftieth day following the resurrection of Christ. Thus chapter two of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles can be placed in the context of fifty days after Jesus' miraculous resurrection and appearance to the disciples. In the Jewish calendar, Pentecost was also known as the Festival of Weeks (Lev. 23:16) and was held in celebration of the first fruits of the harvest, fifty days after Passover.

We are told that the believers (about 120 men and women) had gathered in an assembly in unity of purpose and prayer to appoint – with the Holy Spirit's guidance – a new, twelfth apostle (to take the place of Judas). Then, on the day of Pentecost, a sound like a "mighty rushing wind" filled the whole house and the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of divided tongues of fire, each resting upon the present disciples. As each disciple was filled with the Holy Spirit, he began speaking in a language unknown to him – but fully comprehensible to the many various foreign merchants and travelers who overheard them. Note that the disciples did not speak in ecstatic prayer language, but rather "in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." Now Jesus had promised that He would send the "Paraclete" (the "Comforter" or "Advocate") to those who believed on Him as their helper (John 16:7, 13). Earlier, John the Baptist had foretold that Christ would baptize with the "Holy Spirit and fire" (Luke 3:16), fulfilling the prophecy of Joel, which states that God "will pour [His] Spirit on all flesh" (Joel 2:28). These promises were fulfilled at Pentecost.

The descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost marked the real beginning of the Christian Church. As Bishop Kallistos Ware notes, the gift of the Spirit was given to each of those baptized in Christ's Name, not only to the inner circle (although the apostles were still the key leadership). Just as they were individually Spirit-bearers, the Holy Spirit also united them, the many, as one Body in Christ. Indeed, this early Christian community "had all things in common" and was "united in heart and soul" (Acts 2:44, 4:32). Finally, the Spirit was divided and given to each disciple individually. The tower of Babel resulted in the confusion of languages and in disunity; in the Spirit, this diversity of languages ceased to be a cause for separation.

So it should be for Christians today. We should not let our different backgrounds divide us, but rather in the knowledge that we as baptized believers in the Good News of Jesus Christ are bearers of the Holy Spirit, we should seek to assist the Christian community while witnessing to the life-changing nature of the Gospel to those who do not know Christ. Surely, our personal transformation and that of all Creation is the very purpose of Christ having sent the Holy Paraclete – the Comforter, the Advocate – in the first place.

INDIA : HINDU EXTREMISTS ASSAULT RAJASTHAN CHRISTIANS

The rise of Hindutva - Hindu nationalism - in India has led to periodic violence against Indian Christians. There is evidence in many cases of a systematic policy (or compliance at the very least) in place by the BJP and allied parties.

Also, the U.S. administration denied a visa to Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist and chief minister of the Gujarat state in western India. The basis for the denial was the violence perpetrated against the minority Moslem population, particularly in 2002. Read more here.

U.S. seeks pacts on religious freedom

The Bush administration said yesterday it is close to reaching agreements with Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Eritrea that would improve the state of religious freedom in the three countries of "particular concern" for Washington. Read more about this development here.

Religious Liberty has been an area of particular concern for the past two administrations, primarily represented through the United States Commission for Religious Liberty.

Turkey's Compliance with its Obligations to the Ecumencial Patriarchate and Orthodox Christian Minority

A century ago, there were millions of Orthodox Christians yet present in Asia Minor, including the Greek Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodx Armenians, Syriacs, and Assyrians. Between the periodic pogroms culminating in the Genocide of the First World War years and the exchange of populations from 1923, the population in Turkey was much reduced. Anti-Greek riots (occurring whilst the authorities stood aside) in the 1950s in Istanbul increased immigration, so that by 2004 there were only about 1500 Greek Orthodox Christians left in the city. The Oriental Orthodox presence is negligable, as well, with possibly more ancient, crumbling churches spread around the country than actual, living Armenians.



The Fourth Ecumencial Council met at Chalcedon in Anno Domini 451. Canon XXVIII confirmed Constantinople (now Istanbul) as the second Apostolic city only after Rome, and ahead of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. Yet today the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, in the Phanar, is greatly weakened, in many ways due to the oppressive nature of the Turkish government. Although officially secularist, many (especially under the current Islamic-oriented government) view Christians as second-class citizens. At a hotel in Goreme, Cappadocia, we were told by the Turkish manager that no one was there before the Turks came, nevermind that we were staying in millenium-old converted monastic cells (a great place of pilgrimage, and a lot of fun, too). Here is a recent White Paper on the conduct of the Turkish government towards its Christian minority, from Yale University. More news on the situation can be found here.

Protocol No. 229

† B A R T H O L O M E W
BY THE MERCY OF GOD ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE,
NEW ROME, AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH,
TO THE PLENITUDE OF THE CHURCH, GRACE AND
PEACE FROM OUR SAVIOR CHRIST, TOGETHER WITH
OUR PRAYER, BLESSING AND FORGIVENESS



Read the Catechetical homily on the occasion of Holy and Great Lent...

The Armenian Genocide

Read more about it here.

Prayer of Saint Ephrem



O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, meddling, lust of power, and idle talk.
But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to thy servant.
Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own sins and not to judge my brother, for thou art blessed unto ages of ages. Amen.
O God, be gracious to me, a sinner.

The Great Fast is upon us!

Great Lent: Our Journey To Meet Our Heavenly Bridegroom
by Saint John Chrysostom



Excerpts about fasting from the teachings of St. John Chrysostom, may his prayers be with us, Amen.

Hindutva Continues

Hindu nationalism continues in many parts of India, usually looked upon benignly by the authorities. Although the world is only too familiar with the conflicts between Hindus and Moslems in Kashmir and other areas particularly in the west of India, the violence directed against India's Christian minority is seldom reported. Read also about the BJP's attempt to force through an anti-conversion law.