Page 43 - Religion Belief
Nun issued final notice to leave congregation
A final notice has been issued by church authorities to the nun who took part in a protest against rape accused Franco Mullakal, former Bishop of the Jalandhar diocese, asking her to leave her congregation. In its final notice, the Franciscan Clarist Congregation accused Sister Lucy Kalapura, belonging to its St Mary's province at Mananthavady, of leading a life which was against the "principles of religious life" and the rule of the congregation. Kalapura told mediapersons Friday that the church authorities have given the notice asking her either to leave the congregation or to face ouster. "It's sad that the church has asked me to leave the congregation. I joined the church when I was 17. I have lived a life following all the principles of religious life. I don't have any other life. My reply to the second warning letter earlier was very clear. I have explained my stand," she said. The nun has been asked to give her explanation to Superior General sister at Generalate of the ...
Pope voices solidarity with Muslims after New Zealand attacks
Pope Francis assured "all New Zealanders, and in particular the Muslim community, of his heartfelt solidarity," after Friday's attacks on two mosques which left 49 people dead. The pope was "deeply saddened to learn of the injury and loss of life caused by the senseless acts of violence," Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said in a telegram.
Indian mission in New Zealand offers support after mosque shootings
India's High Commission in New Zealand on Friday said that any Indian national affected by the attacks on two Christchurch mosques can contact the mission for assistance. At least 49 worshippers were killed in attacks on the Al Noor Mosque in central Christchurch and the Linwood Mosque in the city's outer suburb, in what appeared to be the worst attack on Muslims in a western country. Expressing shock over the incident, the mission tweeted two contact numbers 021803899 and 021850033 for providing assistance. "We are shocked to hear about the shooting in Christchurch. Any Indians needing assistance should contact us at 021803899 or 021850033," the Twitter account of the Indian High Commission in New Zealand said. "Our prayers go out to everyone who is affected. Help us spread the word. Stay safe!!" it said. There was no immediate reports of any Indian affected in the incident. Approximately 200,000 Indian and Indian-origin people live in New Zealand. There are over 30,000 Indian ...
Christchurch bloodbath: Witnesses prayed for end to horror
Fear shrouded New Zealand's Christchurch city on Friday as survivors recounted horrifying details after 49 people were gunned down in deadly shootings at two mosques in the city centre.
Restore Good Friday as compulsory holiday in Daman and Diu: Alphons to Home Secy
Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons has written to the Union Home Secretary Friday demanding that Good Friday be restored as a compulsory holiday in the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, amidst protests by the Christian community against its removal from the list of holidays. The change was made in the official district administration notification in November 2018 when Good Friday national public holiday was transferred from Schedule 1 to Schedule 2 or restricted holiday category. "Daman & Diu, Dadra Haveli have taken off Good Friday from the list of compulsory holidays as per yesterday's newspaper report. Please ensure that these Union Territories restore Good Friday as a Compulsory holiday. Kindly let me know," Alphons has said in his letter to Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba. Good Friday is celebrated on April 19 and is considered one of the most sacred day for the Christian community after Christmas. The central government has declared it a ...
'Inshallah you're in paradise' - Sonny Bill in tearful attacks tribute
Tearful rugby star Sonny Bill Williams said he hoped the victims of the Christchurch mosque massacre were in "paradise" in an emotional video tribute on Friday. The devout Muslim, wearing a skull cap, wiped away tears several times in the brief footage which he filmed sitting in a car. Police reported multiple deaths in attacks on two crowded mosques during Friday prayers in Christchurch, where Williams played for the Crusaders earlier in his career. "Just heard the news. I couldn't put it into words how I'm feeling right now," the World Cup-winning All Blacks centre said in the video posted on Twitter. "Inshallah (God willing) everyone who's been killed today... you guys are all in paradise," he added. "Just deeply, deeply saddened that this would happen in New Zealand.
Active shooter situation at New Zealand mosque, casualties feared
Police are responding to an 'active shooter' situation at a mosque here, according to local media."A serious and evolving situation is occurring in Christchurch with an active shooter," Al Jazeera quoted Police Commissioner Mike Bush as saying.Local media reports suggest that a gunman entered a mosque here on Friday and started shooting with an automatic weapon. "A gunman - dressed in black with a helmet carrying a machine gun - came into the back of the mosque and started firing into the people praying there," Al Jazeera quoted local media as saying.People as young as 16 years are reported to have been inside the mosque at the time of firing.Several casualties are feared, as authorities are yet to confirm the exact figure of deceased or wounded.Further information is awaited.
Prominent Lingayat pontiff Maate Mahadevi passes away
Prominent Lingayat pontiff and Basava Dharma Peetha President Maate Mahadevi breathed her last at a private hospital here on Thursday. She was 74.Reportedly, she passed away due to multiple organ failure. Hospital authorities said that she was on life support ever since she was admitted.Installed as 'Jagadguru' in the 1970s, Maate Mahadevi established several educational and religious institutions and published several books.In 2017-18, she was at the forefront of a movement in Karnataka demanding separate religion status for the Lingayat community.
German Catholics accused of 'stonewalling' by child abuse victims
Germany's under-fire Catholic Church admitted Thursday it must urgently confront its child sex abuse scandal, but victims accused it of continued "stonewalling", especially on compensation. As in Australia, Chile, France, Ireland and the United States, Germany's Catholic Church has had to admit to abuses by predator priests and clergy and their systematic cover-up over decades. "We carry responsibility toward those affected around the world -- no-one among us can still negate the problem or treat it as a taboo," said Cardinal Reinhard Marx, head of the German Bishops' Conference. To the thousands of German victims and to other critics, Marx said, "we see and hear you ... we have understood", speaking at the end of a four-day episcopal conference in the western city of Lingen. The era of silence "is over", he stressed weeks after a Vatican conference also addressed the issue, and he admitted that it should have been dealt with "perhaps 20 years, 30 years ago". But Cardinal Marx also ...
Passion for organic farming bring UK national to Puducherry
Krishna McKenzie, a British national, travelled all the way from his country to Puducherry to make a career in organic farming.It was the Indian culture and his passion for organic farming that attracted him to Puducherry.He is an ardent advocate of eco-friendliness in the quaint township of Auroville.Krishna was inspired by the Indian culture since his Alma mater, J Krishnamurti School, in the UK. Later on, he made the life-changing decision of stepping into organic farming in India."I came here in January 1993 and it's been 26 years in Tamil Nadu. The journey is very surprising for me. I find hard to believe, how the message has touched me so deeply about honouring our culture nutritional heritage," he told ANI."In a country like England, we don't know from where food comes," he said, and asked, "if we lose relationship with the foundation of our lives, then how will be our society, culture, nutrition and medicines will reflect in the education, economics and ecology?He said ...
German Catholics meeting to address child sex abuse scandal
Germany's Catholic Church was Thursday due to speak about steps and reforms to address its child sex abuse scandal, which mirrors paedophilia revelations in congregations worldwide. Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the head of the German Bishops' Conference, was due to give a 1300 GMT press conference at the end of a four-day episcopal conference in the western city of Lingen. As in Australia, Chile, France, Ireland and the United States, Germany's Catholic Church has had to admit to abuses by predator priests and clergy and their systematic cover-ups over decades. Germany's Church last September released a study that showed 1,670 clergymen had committed some form of sexual attack against 3,677 minors, mostly boys, between 1946 and 2014. The authors said the figure was "the tip of the iceberg" as many Church documents had been "destroyed or manipulated". Last month a Vatican meeting addressed the global issue heaping pressure on the Church, and this week Australian Cardinal George Pell, one of
Israeli group honors Nikki Haley with coin
An Israeli organization has minted a coin emblazoned with the face of Nikki Haley, President Donald Trump's former ambassador to the United Nations, to commemorate her defense of Israel in the world body. The Sanhedrin, a Jewish group that says it aims to restore the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, is one of three organizations behind the coin. The collector's coin, which costs USD 50, features Haley's face set against the UN building, and a rendition of the Jewish Temple on the back. Hillel Weiss, spokesman for Sanhedrin, said Wednesday that Haley's criticism of the UN, which he says "seeks to destroy the state of Israel", earned her the recognition. He says the group last year sold 20,000 "Temple Coins" engraved with Trump's face to honour his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
TTD opens Rs.20 crore Lord Venkateswara temple in Hyderabad
A colossal replica of the Lord Venkateswara shrine at Tirumala built in Telangana capital Hyderabad was thrown open to devotees Wednesday. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, which governs the over 2000 Lord Venkateswara shrine at Tirumala near here, has built the replica temple at a cost of Rs.20 crore on a 3.5-acre site in the posh Jubilee Hills area in Hyderabad, a temple official told PTI here. After priests performed special rituals, including Mahakumbabhishekam (consecration) at the crack of dawn, the the devotees were allowed to offer prayers at the new shrine. Early in 2014 when Congress was at the helm of affairs in the undivided Andhra Pradesh, the TTD had decided to build a Lord Venkateswara temple in Hyderabad. In 2017, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had made two princely golden ornament offerings, totally weighing about 19 kg and worth about Rs.5 crore, to the presiding deity. The TTD has opened a replica temple of Lord Venkateswara in ...
Russian Army General visits Golden temple
Russian Army General and current Commander-in-Chief of Ground Forces Oleg Salyukov visited the Golden Temple here on Wednesday. Before entering the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, Salyukov walked bare foot on the marbled periphery around the pond (pool of nectar) accompanied by senior SGPC officials, including Chief Secretary Roop Singh who briefed the general about the history of Sikhism. While paying obeisance, the Russian commander-in-chief offered 'parshad' as per Sikh tradition. Later he visited the Akal Takhat, the throne of the timeless. Roop Singh called Salyukov's visit a first-of-its-kind-visit. He said the general was happy to know about the community kitchen (langer) practice, which operates round the clock and all people are welcome to eat. Later, the general was given a robe of honour and a saffron scarf, along with other souvenir items.
Two UTs scrap Good Friday holiday, Christians upset
The Christian community is up in arms after the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu abruptly cancelled the Good Friday holiday on April 19.
Board of PVV Infra approves change in registered office
At meeting held on 13 March 2019
West using Christianity to subvert Chinese state: official
A Chinese official accused "anti-China forces" in the West of using Christianity to subvert the country's political power and said worshippers must follow a Chinese form of religion. China's officially atheist government, which oversees religious groups through state-sponsored institutions, has tightened its grip on all faiths in recent years. "Anti-China forces in the West are attempting to continue to influence the social stability of our country through Christianity, and even subvert the political power of our country," Xu Xiaohong, chairman of the state-backed National Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee, which oversees the Protestant churches, said on Monday. Speaking at the annual gathering of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a largely ceremonial advisory body, Xu described the introduction of Christianity in China as "accompanying the intense colonial aggression by the West". Only by incorporating Chinese culture into Christianity would the ...
'Chadars' offered at Ajmer Sharif Dargah on behalf of Swaraj, Fadnavis
'Chadars' were offered on behalf of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis at the Ajmer Sharif Dargah here on Tuesday. The 'chadars' were offered during the ongoing Urs of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, SHO of dargah police station, Hemraj, said. Blessings were sought and prayers were offered for peace after the 'chadars' were offered at the mausoleum of the Sufi saint. Urs in Ajmer commemorates the death anniversary of Moinuddin Chishti.
Bishop asks priests not to take political position in LS polls
: A Bishop of a Catholic diocese in Kerala has urged its priests not to take any political position favouring any sides in the Lok Sabha election, saying 'it will harm us all." In a circular issued to priests of the Idukki diocese, Bishop Mar John Nellikkunnel said taking sides in the election "will harm us all". "As spiritual leaders of our people we should not take any position favouring any sides," the Bishop said According to him, the faithful do not want the priests to be actively involved in election poltics in the present context. "Our people are intelligent enough to decide in elections", it said. The Bishop's stand is seen as a departure from the positions taken by the Catholic Church, which holds sway over voters of Central Kerala, in the previous elections. The diocese had supported an independent candidate supported by the CPI(M) in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. "We all have the duty before God to be symbols of charity and unity. Therefore I appeal to all of you ..
US envoy calls China's Muslim camps 'horrific,' wants probe
A US envoy on religion has described China's internment of an estimated 1 million Muslims as a "horrific situation." Sam Brownback, US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, on Tuesday called for an independent investigation into the detentions and the release of those being held. China has already angrily protested Brownback's remarks last week in Hong Kong criticising Beijing's polices on religious minorities and accusing the country of being "at war with faith." China at first denied the existence of the internment camps in the far northwestern region of Xinjiang, but now says they are vocational training facilities. In a telephone news conference with journalists, Brownback appeared undeterred by Beijing's ire, describing China's explanations as "completely unsatisfactory answers." China is listed by the US among the worst violators of religious freedom.