Page 9 - Religion Belief
Notre-Dame of Paris to celebrate first mass since fire
The Notre-Dame cathedral will host its first mass this weekend since a fire ravaged the Paris landmark almost two months ago, the city's diocese said Tuesday. The mass -- led by Archbishop of Paris Michel Aupetit -- will be celebrated on a very small scale late Saturday, the diocese said. It will take place in a "side chapel with a restricted number of people, for obvious security reasons," it said. Just 20 people are expected to take part, including priests and canons from the cathedral. The event will be broadcast live by a French television channel so that Christians from all over France can participate, the diocese added. The date has been chosen as it is the anniversary of the consecration of the cathedral's altar, which is celebrated every year on June 16. President Emmanuel Macron has set an ambitious target of five years for restoring the Notre-Dame, which was gutted by a fire on April 15 that felled its steeple. The diocese is awaiting a response from the French authorities ..
2 Kerala priests gets anticipatory bail in forgery case
Two senior Catholic priests attached to the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Kerala on Tuesday secured anticipatory bail in the fake document case against Cardinal George Alencherry.
'Bada Mangal' brings variety of 'prasad' on Tuesday
Variety is the spice of life and gets even spicier if it comes free of cost.
Tirupati: Political bigwigs pray for rainfall at Lord Balaji temple
Political bigwigs from Andhra Pradesh visited Lord Balaji temple here on Tuesday to offer prayers for sufficient rainfall, among other things.Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh LV Subrahmanyam, who was among those who visited the temple, said he prayed to the Lord for timely rains and the welfare of the state.Former MP of YSR Congress, Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, also visited the holy shrine with his son Mekapati Goutham Reddy, who is the IT and Commerce Minister of Andhra Pradesh. The ministers performed rituals at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Vaari Temple.The father-son duo said they prayed for the new government under the leadership of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to take the state forward on the path of development.[{2b1984ba-4817-42ff-a3e1-4aabb6dcfcdc:intradmin/2_FBHR7ik.jpg}]Deputy Speaker Kona Raghupati and TDP leader Ambika Krishna also offered prayers at the Lord Balaji temple this morning.A number of pockets in the country, including Andhra Pradesh and its neighbouring state Karnataka, .
AP: Plaque of former CM Chandrababu Naidu vandalised in Krishna district
Tension gripped the Zilla Parishad office premises here after some unidentified persons allegedly vandalised a plaque carrying the name of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's on Monday night.According to Police, the miscreants allegedly damaged the plaquewhich has N Chandrababu Naidu's name engraved as the Chief Minister.The incident happened ahead a scheduled meeting organised by the Zilla Parishad of Krishna District members in its office today.Security has been beefed up in the area to maintain law and order situation, police informed.An investigation in the matter is underway.
4 train passengers die due to heat in Jhansi
Four passengers on the Kerala Express have died here due to extreme heat while one passenger has been hospitalised in a critical condition, an official said.
Bihar: Bus carrying wedding guests overturns, 20 people injured
At least 20 people were injured after the bus they were travelling in, overturned near Sahmalwa petrol pump under Baruraj police station limits in Muzaffarpur, on Monday late night.The bus was carrying guests to a wedding ceremony nearby.All injured have been referred to Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital.The reason behind the accident is yet to be known.
CNI Diocese in Kolkata gets 21st Bishop
Paritosh Canning has taken over as the Bishop of the Calcutta Diocese of the Church of North India (CNI), with Probal Kanta Dutta being transferred.
From hiding, ex-Vatican envoy accuses pope of 'blatantly lying'
A longtime Vatican dissident broke months of silence Monday to accuse Pope Francis of "blatantly lying" in denying knowledge of the sexual abuse allegations against a now-defrocked American cardinal. Retired Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano told the Washington Post in a series of emails that Francis and his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI must come clean about what they knew of ex-Washington archbishop Theodore McCarrick's alleged decades of abuse. Vigano said it is "immensely sad" that Francis was "blatantly lying to the whole world to cover up his wicked deeds" in allegedly protecting McCarrick. Vigano reiterated his earlier claims that he warned Francis in 2013 about McCarrick. "How could anybody, especially a pope, forget this?" he said, according to the Post. Vigano, an iconoclastic Catholic conservative who has rocked the Vatican for years with accusations of corruption and abuse at the highest levels, disappeared last August after penning a sweeping 11-page attack on ...
7 bids received for live telecast of Rath Jatra
The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has received seven bids from different media houses for live telecast of Lord Jagannath's Rath Jatra festival in Puri, an official said Monday. "We have received seven bids from different Odia and Hindi television channels for live telecast of Lord Jagannth's car festival beginning from 'Snan Purnima' (bathing rituals) on June 17 till 'Niladri Bije' (return to temple after festival) on July 14," the SJTA official said. The SJTA opened the tender on Monday afternoon. The final decision on whether to give telecast rights to one television channel or open it for all like previous years, will be taken later, the official said. The temple administration has decided that from this year it would accord the rights for live telecast of Rath Jatra and other major festivals of Lord Jagannath to the highest-bidding TV channel. "Though television channels earn good amount of revenue from the companies through commercial advertisements
Catholics hold traditional Whit Monday ceremony in Germany
Women in traditional white dresses have carried a centuries-old statue of the Virgin Mary to mark Whit Monday in an annual ritual in the eastern German town of Rosenthal. Hundreds of Catholic Sorbs, a Slavic minority, held prayers in rural churches in about a dozen areas before walking to Rosenthal for another service. They then ended their pilgrimage walking with the young women carrying the 1480 wooden statue of Mary through the town to a field for an open-air mass. The ritual marks Whit Monday, the day after Whitsun or Pentecost, which falls seven weeks after Easter Sunday and is the day the Holy Spirit is said to have descended upon the apostles. The day is a national holiday in Germany and many other countries.
Madhav, Abdullah, Lt Gen Dillion participate in Kheer Bhawani Mela in J-K
BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, and Lt Gen KJS Dillon visited Kheer Bhawani temple here on Monday.Kheer Bhawani Mela is organised here annually in which a large number of devotees including Kashmiri Hindus pray to Mata Kheer Bhawani.Speaking to ANI, Madhav said, "This is a very auspicious occasion for Kashmiris and local Hindus. I have prayed that all Kashmiri Hindus come back here, and Kashmir lives in peace and harmony."Talking about the Amarnath Yatra, he said: "This time too, the Yatra will be successful. The administration is busy in making all requisite preparations." The Amarnath Yatra is beginning from July 1.Farooq Abdullah said: "Kheer Bhawani Mela is the festival of happiness. Our Hindu brothers have come here to celebrate the occasion. I hope they will come back and settle down here. In our country, all Hindus, Sikhs Christians, and Muslims should live in brotherhood."Lt Gen KJS Dillon said: "Mata Kheer Bhavani, ...
Hundreds gather in Kashmir for annual Kheer Bhawani mela
Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandit devotees prayed at the famous Ragnya Devi temple here in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district on Monday as the Kheer Bhawani mela was celebrated amid chants of religious hymns and ringing of temple bells. Nestled in the shade of mammoth Chinar trees in Tulmulla village, the temple witnessed a massive gathering of devotees, most of them Kashmiri Pandits, who have journeyed from across the country. The Kheer Bhawani mela is one of the biggest religious functions of the displaced community. Walking barefoot, the devotees carried rose petals and offered tribute to the goddess as men took a dip in the stream close to the shrine. People jostled with each other to move closer to the main temple complex and offered milk and kheer (pudding) at the sacred spring. It is believed that the colour of the water in the spring, which flows below the temple, is an indication of the valley's well-being. Black or darkish colour of the water is believed to be a sign of ...
Catholic priest in hospital after knife attack in Poland
Authorities in Poland say that a Roman Catholic priest is hospitalised in serious condition after a man attacked him with a knife. Krzysztof Zaporowski, police spokesman in the southwestern city of Wroclaw, said the attacker approached the priest early Monday in front of the city's Holiest Mary church. The attacker has been detained. Monika Kowalska, a spokeswoman for Wroclaw Univesrity Hospital, said the priest underwent surgery for chest wounds and is in stable condition. The circumstances surrounding the attack was not immediately clear. It comes at a time when Poland's influential Catholic Church is confronted with allegations about sex abuse of minors by some priests, and faces questions about the practice of moving the perpetrators among parishes rather than meting out proper punishment.
Kashmiri Pandits throng Kheer Bhawani, pray for peace
Kashmiri Pandits started arriving at the Kheer Bhawani temple in Tullamulla town on Monday in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district to attend the annual festival.
Modi offers prayers at Tirupati shrine
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered prayers at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala here on Sunday. Upon his arrival at the ancient temple, Modi was accorded a grand traditional reception amid chanting of Vedic hymns by the priests, who escorted him to the sanctum sanctorum along with temple officials. Clad in a traditional attire, the Prime Minister also paid obeisance at the sub shrines of Sri Yoga Narasimha Swamy and Sri Ramajujacharya besides the golden Vimana Venkateswara, the sacred golden altar, the golden holy mast (Dwajastambham) inside the shrine. He spend about half an hour in the temple, a temple official told PTI. After offering prayers, the Prime Minister was honoured with a sacred silk cloth besides a memento of Lord Venkateswara and 'laddu' prasadam at the sprawling Ranga Mandapam, while the priests invoked the celestial blessings on Modi, he said. Earlier, Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan, Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy,
Pope laments 'culture of insults,' decries church propaganda
Pope Francis on Sunday lamented what he called a "culture of insults" enabled by social media and warned against nationalism and other "exclusivist ideas" that he said contrast with a Christian mission to foster harmony. In his homily during Pentecost Mass Sunday in St. Peter's Square, Francis also decried that "the more we use social media, the less social we are becoming." "In today's world, lack of harmony has led to stark divisions," Francis said. "There are those who have too much and those who have nothing, those who want to live to a hundred and those who cannot even be born." He warned of the temptation to cling to "our little group, to the things and people we like," concluding that it's only a "small step from a nest to a sect, even within the church." The pope said that "nowadays it is fashionable to hurl adjectives and, sadly, even insults" in what's tantamount to "a culture of insults." He recommended responding "to malice with goodness, to shouting with silence, to ...
US Jewish community looks to defend itself as attacks rise
Armed guards, safety assessments and now even a "Tactical Rabbi" to train volunteers on the use of weapons -- such is the reality today at synagogues in the United States facing mounting anti-Semitic attacks. It is at a shooting range in the hills overlooking Los Angeles that a team of AFP reporters met recently with Raziel Cohen, dubbed the "Tactical Rabbi," who was sporting a 9mm pistol on his hip and carrying a semi-automatic rifle over his shoulder. Cohen was trying to determine how well books can stop bullets. The idea is to transform a library at a synagogue or Jewish school into a shelter in the event of an active shooter situation. "We're trying to bridge the gap between the time that the shooting begins and law enforcement arrives," he told AFP. "The expression that goes on is that we carry guns because we can't carry police officers, which is not just a joke," added Cohen. "The reality is that there can't be police everywhere all the time." Cohen, who has been passionate ...
Devotees start arriving at Kheer Bhawani temple in Kashmir
Dozens of migrant Kashmiri Pandits started arriving at the Kheer Bhawani temple on Sunday ahead of the annual festival to be held on Monday.
After train incident, 'timid' Gandhi became 'soul force' warrior: Book
Mahatma Gandhi was very timid in his youth but days after being thrown out of a train in South Africa, he expressed no signs of timidity and instead changed into an embryonic 'soul force' warrior, says a new book. Former diplomat Pascal Alan Nazareth, who has written "Gandhi: The Soul Force Warrior, Revolutionised Revolution and Spiritualised It", says the train incident was Gandhi's transformational moment. When he was thrown out of a train going from Durban to Pretoria, at the Pietermaritzburg station for sitting in a first-class compartment, despite the fact that he had a first-class ticket, Gandhi was only 24-years-old. "Gandhi was very timid in his youth and continued to be so even after he returned to India with his British legal degree. He had failed miserably in arguing his first case in a Bombay court in early 1893," the book says. But after the train incident, he expressed no signs of timidity, it says. Instead, there was firm determination to fight the "deep disease of ...