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Pope Francis prays in Turkey’s Mosque, head bowed toward Mecca

Turkey, December, 2014: A day after calling for inter-religious dialogue to end Islamist extremism, Pope Francis on Saturday visited a 17th-century mosque in Istanbul and spent several minutes in a silent prayer with his head bowed in the direction of Mecca.

The pope made the gesture to promote Christian-Muslim relations at the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, known as the Blue Mosque, on Saturday, the second day of his three-day Turkey visit, according to the Vatican Radio.

He removed his shoes before entering the mosque with blue tiles on its walls. Standing next to him was the Grand Mufti, who explained about the Koranic verses illustrated on the stones pillars and the dome.

The pontiff also toured on Saturday the nearby Hagia Sophia, a Byzantine basilica which was turned into a mosque after the fall of Constantinople in the mid-15th century before being transformed into a museum.

The pontiff’s visit is being seen as an effort to foster inter-faith relations.

“Fanaticism and fundamentalism, as well as irrational fears which foster misunderstanding and discrimination, need to be countered by the solidarity of all believers,” the pope said Friday in a speech to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other political leaders on the first day of his pastoral visit to the cities of Ankara and Istanbul.

“It is essential that all citizens – Muslim, Jewish and Christian – both in the provision and practice of the law, enjoy the same rights and respect the same duties,” the pope added in his speech Friday. “They will then find it easier to see each other as brothers and sisters who are travelling the same path, seeking always to reject misunderstandings while promoting cooperation and concord. Freedom of religion and freedom of expression, when truly guaranteed to each person, will help friendship to flourish and thus become an eloquent sign of peace.”

Also on Saturday, Francis celebrated the only public Mass of his Turkey visit in Istanbul’s Latin Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Holy Spirit.

Surrounded by the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew and leaders of all the other Christian communities, Francis reflected on how the Holy Spirit creates unity among believers. When we let the Spirit unsettle us to move us out of our comfort zones, turning instead to our brothers and sisters “with that tenderness which warms the heart,” then we have been touched by the Holy Spirit, he was quoted as saying.

The pope’s emphasis on having dialogue and improving inter-faith relations comes at a time when the Christian and Yazidi minorities are being targeted and killed in Iraq and Syria, large territories of which are now controlled by the Islamic State, or ISIS, terror group.

The ISIS, an al-Qaeda offshoot, seeks to form an Islamic emirate in the Levant region through “jihad.” In Iraq, ISIS men have killed hundreds of civilians. Numerous members of the Christian and Yazidi minorities have also been killed, and tens of thousands of them have fled their homes. About 5,000 Yazidi girls and women were recently taken captive by ISIS to be sold or given to fighters as slaves.

- christian post

CSF: Afghan believer in Delhi set free. PAD building targeted in Afghan

New Delhi, December, 2014: The Afghan believers had some good news as one of the three brothers (Hasibullah) was released from jail on the night of 25th November 2014 and they strive for the release of the other two brothers. They have thanked The CSF for their prayers and support.

The Afghan refugee believers in the national capital said they also received with sorrow and pain, news that extremists targeted the PAD Office, where believers used to worship on Fridays and Saturdays. There was also a seminary in this building and a brother who was the Director of the PAD organization was also living there.

While the worship was going on in the building, the suicide attackers attacked the building and as the result of this attack brothers Werner and Zabi were killed and some other believers were injured. There is no news about brother Werner’s son and daughter as they were also at the building at the time. His wife was out as she is a doctor and works in one of the hospitals.

Some of the injured believers who were spoken to, said the attackers shot all of them but the Lord saved a few. Please keep the prayers going.

- pobsc

Jesuit detained on trumped up rape charges

Ranchi, December 4, 2014: Police detained a 60-year old Jesuit priest-principal in Jharkhand last week on charges of rape based on the oral testimony of a girl student, but Jesuits say he is “an unjust victim of illegal detention.”

Father Soosai Nayagam, 60, of Dumka-Raiganj Province “has become an unjust victim of illegal detention in jail,” said a press release from the Jesuits today.

According to the release last Monday the officer-in charge of Rajmahal police station Umesh Ram arrested Fr. Nayagam, principal of St. Berchmans Inter College, Mundli, Sahibganj.

It was based on the oral testimony of a 19 year girl student of the college. The officer recorded the priest’s crime as rape under a section of the Sc/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and forwarded the priest to the court.

The based on the oral testimony, recorded but unsigned by the girl, the magistrate ordered the detention of the priest for 14 days.

The arrest took place in dramatic circumstances, the release said adding that it was the scheme of those who were unable to stomach the principal’s overdrive for strict discipline from students and teachers alike.

“A 19 year old girl became a handy tool for them and they made her state that the principal molested her. That was the fuse which ignited unscrupulous elements, waiting eagerly for action, to teach a lesson to their disciplinarian principal,” the release said.

Under the guidance of certain teachers, the students went on a rampage, held the principal hostage and manhandled him, and destroyed college property.

The administration sought the help of the police to control the unruly situation. The police apparently sympathized with the students, manacled the priest and took him to the police Station.

“Now it has come to light that the girl later made a statement before a judicial magistrate alleging that she was not sexually harassed by the Principal. Certified copies of all related documents, including the FIR, are in the possession of certain reliable sources,” said the release said.

The arrest leaves several questions unaswered, and the state has to answer them “in unmistakable terms,” the release said.

“If a college principal falls victim to such nefarious doings, what awaits the common man,” it asked.

- ucan

Hindu group opposes Santa Claus giving chocolates to kids

Raipur, December, 2014: Chhattisgarh, a central Indian state, seems to be the new laboratory for Hindu radicals to tame Christians.

The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP, world Hindu council) has objected to Santa Claus distributing chocolates to school children during Christmas.

The new objection comes a few days after the radical group forced Catholic schools in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh to use the Sanskrit term “acharaya” instead of “Father” to address their priest principals.

The Hindu council has also objected to several activities of the Church and raised questions about use of school buses for religious functions. The VHP and outfits backed by it have also said they want idols of Goddess Saraswati, the Hindu deity of learning, installed in missionary schools.

While the Catholic school authorities agreed to have the Goddess’s idols installed, they rejected VHP’s other demands saying these were an infringement on their freedom to manage their religious affairs guaranteed by the Constitution.

The row between Bastar missionaries and VHP was triggered by a speech by Bishop Joseph Kollamparambil of Jagdalpur at a school annual function recalling how Fr Kuriakose Elias Chavara, a visionary and social reformer, “was canonized and conferred sainthood by Pope Francis at Vatican on Sunday.”

He said Fr Chavara contributed to free education for all in Kerala in the 19th century. Earlier, on November 17, Bishop Joseph said the Kerala reformer had introduced the concept for “a school along with a church,” making education accessible to all and spread education in Bastar.

VHP then alleged that the bishop’s address promoted “communalism and narrow-mindedness.” It also wrote to Chief Minister Raman Singh alleging “Missionaries put non-democratic pressure on Hindu society and administration on the pretext of education.”

Jagdalpur diocese spokesman and vicar-general Father Abraham Kannampala said the Hindu group has not presented the issues in the proper perspective. “So we decided to have a dialogue with VHP representatives to clear the air,” he told The Times of India.

“On November 21-22, seven church representatives and 12 VHP men met and discussed various issues,” Father Kannampala said, adding, “We accepted some suggestions but did not agree on some other proposals.”

He added, “It’s not as if we’re under pressure from anyone and we made some compromise. Ours was a collaborative, problem solving approach. We didn’t have any objection to non-Christian students addressing school principal as ‘pracharya’, or ‘uppracharya’, or ‘sir’, instead of ‘father’, as demanded by VHP.

Similarly, we agreed to put up photographs of ‘Ma Saraswati’ and ‘great personalities’ who worked for national interest in our educational institutions,” Fr Kannampala said.

VHP Bastar chief Suresh Yadav and Fr Kannampala later issued a joint statement about their consensus at the meeting.

- mattersindia