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Vatican lifts ban on married priests for Eastern Catholic churches in US, Canada & Australia

Vatican, November, 2014: The Vatican has lifted a longstanding ban on the ordination of married men to the priesthood in the Eastern Catholic churches.

The tradition and discipline of the Eastern churches allows for the ordination of married men to the priesthood. (Bishops must be unmarried, however, and once ordained, a priest cannot marry.) The Vatican has repeatedly approved this tradition, while insisting on the importance of priestly celibacy in the Latin rite.

However, in the late 19th century, with the arrival of many Byzantine Catholic immigrants in Canada, Latin-rite prelates complained that the presence of married Catholic priests could create a “grave scandal.” The Vatican eventually ruled that the Eastern churches could not ordain married men in the countries where their communities form a minority of the Catholic population. The rule has historically applied primarily to Canada, the US, and Australia.

With a decree approved by Pope Francis, and signed on June 14 by Cardinal Leonard Sandri, the Congregation for the Eastern Churches has now rescinded that ban. Catholic bishops of the Eastern churches serving in eparchies (dioceses) in the West are explicitly authorized to ordain married men.

The decree requires a bishop of the Eastern Catholic Church to “give prior notice, in writing, to the Latin Bishop of the candidate’s place of residence, so as to obtain his opinion and any relevant information [regarding the candidate].” An Eastern-rite bishop who ordained a married man for service in another country is directed to inform the episcopal conference of that country, and the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, of this action.

In practice, the ban on married priests had been relaxed in recent years, with the tacit acceptance of the Holy See. Some married priests from the East have been assigned to serve parishes in the West, and some men from the West have traveled to the East to be ordained before returning to serve at home. In a few cases, bishops of the Eastern churches have simply ignored the ban, ordaining married American men to serve in American parishes.

The new Vatican document allowing for the ordination of married men notes that when the ban was originally imposed, thousands of Catholics of the Ruthenian Catholic community in Canada left to join the Orthodox Church. The document also notes that when Pope Benedict XVI issued Anglicanorum Coetibus, allowing for the reception of Anglican communities into the Catholic Church, he explicitly provided for the presence of married Catholic priests. In 2012, Pope Benedict remarked that “the ministry of married priests is a component of the ancient Eastern traditions,” which he encouraged the Eastern Catholic churches to maintain.

- catholic culture

BJP: Islam will prosper if we rule Kashmir

Srinagar, November 20, 2014: The BJP said Wednesday it was confident Islam will prosper in Jammu and Kashmir if it got to rule the state.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also said that it won’t press for the abrogation of article 370 of the constitution, which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir, if people of the state want it to stay.

BJP state vice president Ramesh Arora, who is also in charge of the party’s Kashmir affairs, said Kashmiris would feel more secure if the BJP was voted to power in the country’s only Muslim-majority state.

“Kashmiris need to vote en masse for the BJP. This contention is wrong that the BJP is a communal party. Kashmir is a land of Sufi saints. Islam will grow better during our regime,” he said.

“The state as such has no religion but we (BJP) respect all religions and pledge religious freedom to all as guaranteed in the Indian constitution.

“Those who say the BJP would be a threat to Kashmiriyat … are wrong.

“The actual threat is to those who say so. Our party will end administrative, police, bureaucratic and political injustice in Jammu and Kashmir.”

Trying to play down the controversy over article 370, Arora said the BJP favoured a debate and discussion on the issue.

“We will take people into confidence and assess its merits and demerits to the state and proceed accordingly.”

Arora said a debate over this provision was a “serious issue and we (BJP) won’t take any vague decision.

“We will take the aspirations of all regions of Jammu and Kashmir into account while dealing with this issue.”

The BJP has traditionally opposed article 370, saying it was coming in the way of Jammu and Kashmir’s complete integration with the rest of India.

The BJP manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha election reiterated its stand on the article and said it “will discuss this with all stakeholders and remains committed to (its) abrogation”.

- ians

New BJP states pushing for anti-calves slaughtering law

Mumbai, November 2014: Fulfilling its one of the pre poll assurance to make tough laws to check cattle slaughtering, the newly elected BJP governments in Maharashtra and Haryana have started working on getting long pending bills in this connection approved from the President.

Haryana already has ‘The Punjab Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955’ that applies to Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab states. But the new BJP government that took charge last month is reportedly looking into strengthening the existing law to further check the cow slaughter in the state, Haryana’s Animal Husbandry Minister Om Parkash Dhankhar said at Gurgaon on Tuesday.

The BJP government in Maharashtra has now taken up the oldest pending Bill – the Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill 1995 – which was enacted by the then BJP-Shiv Sena government but subsequently stalled by the central governments, including the NDA tenure in between – by not seeking the President’s consent for it. During its 15-year rule in Maharashtra, the Congress-led governments never responded to the BJP’s demands for taking the bill ahead.

With this bill, the BJP government in Maharashtra wishes to ban the slaughter of calves in the state. Slaughtering of cows is already forbidden under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act (MAPA), enacted in 1976. Under the provisions of this existing law, calves can be killed after acquiring the ‘Fit for Slaughter’ certificate from civic authorities.

As reported by PTI, Mahesh Phatak, secretary, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department (Maharashtra) wrote to the Central Government last Thursday regarding the new BJP government’s wish to follow up and enactment of the Bill. His letter was in response to a communication from deputy secretary, Union Ministry of Home Affairs, seeking to know if the government was interested in pursuing the Bill, passed way back in 1995 by the state legislature.

Cattle slaughtering laws vary from state to state

The “Preservation, protection and improvement of stock and prevention of animal diseases, veterinary training and practice” is Entry 15 of the ‘State List’ of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, meaning that State legislatures have exclusive powers to legislate the prevention of slaughter and preservation of cattle.

Hence, there is no uniform law regarding cattle slaughtering for all states and while cow slaughtering is completely banned in certain states, it is allowed in others. Also, those states that do have such laws, the enactment vary in great respect. Then, there are certain states where cow slaughter is not banned. These include Kerala, West Bengal, Jammu & Kashmir and some states from the northeast India. These states allow the slaughter of cows with restrictions such as a ‘fit-for-slaughter’ certificate that is issued by the civic authority depending on factors like age and gender of cattle, continued economic viability etc.

Prohibition of cow slaughter is actually a Directive Principles of State Policy contained in Article 48 of the Constitution. It reads,

“The State shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle.”

- tcn

For Indian bishop, Christian-Muslim dialogue needs actions, not words

In India, both communities are a minority. For Mgr Felix Machado, archbishop of Vasai, change begins in the school, which must be "an environment that teaches reciprocity, as well as respect for the natural dignity and freedom of every human being". He calls on Muslims to "use their own tools for the good of all and for building the nation."

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - "Islamic-Christian dialogue is crucial to India, and should take place at the theological and practical levels. The contribution of religion to peace and harmony in modern society cannot be dismissed, nor can religion be relegated to the edges of modern society," said Mgr Felix Machado, archbishop of Vasai and president of the Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), following the third seminar of the catholic-muslim Forum, centred on the theme of ’Working together to serve others’ (11-13 November, Rome).

In India, Christians and Muslims are religious minorities. Out of a population of over 1.2 billion people, Hindus are 80.5 per cent. Christians constitute only 2.3 per cent, whilst Muslims are 13.4 per cent.

"This means that Indian Muslims are almost 150 million, the second Muslim community in the world after Indonesia," the prelate told AsiaNews. "And many of them attend Christian schools, including those run by the Catholic Church. Altogether, they represent 17 per cent of all educational institutions in the country".

However, a different kind of education, based on dialogue, must begin in school. "For young Christians and Muslims, it is essential to be immersed in an environment that teaches reciprocity, as well as respect for the natural dignity and freedom of every human being, whatever his or her religion," Mgr Machado said. Without these values, "peace and harmony in society are in danger."

For the archbishop of Vasai, Pakistan is an example not to be followed. In this country, "textbooks are biased. They emphasise only Islam and are full of one-sided information about other religions."

Such a cultural background is what ultimately leads to blasphemy laws, "invoked by some groups in civil society to kill Christians," which can be fought "only with the cooperation and help of enlightened Muslims and Christians."

In India, Christian and Muslim Dalits (once called untouchables) suffer the worst kind of discrimination. As non-Hindus, they do not enjoy Scheduled Caste (SC) status, which has provided certain benefits and privileges to Hindus since 1950, including in the areas of education and public sector services and jobs. Later, the same privileges were extended to Sikhs and Buddhists.

The Catholic Church, the bishop explained, "has made interfaith dialogue a mandatory path for its members." However, "so far this attention towards others is one-sided".

"With generosity, we have placed all of our resources at the disposal of all communities, regardless of religion. But our Muslim brothers must use their own tools for the good of all and for building the nation. "

This is "the practical implication of ’Working together to serve others’," he said. "It is seeking lifelong dialogue and partnership. Together we can do good for our society as a whole."