Pope announces new department in Vatican

Pope Benedict XVI has announced the formation of a department in the Vatican which will be dedicated to the new evangelization of Europe and America.
The Pontifical Council for New Evangelization of the West will be dedicated to bringing Christian faith to places where the concept of God has been overshadowed.
The pope made the announcement during [...]

Catholics demand ban on Taiwan surrogacy

Surrogacy “violates family ethics, human dignity and maternal duty,” say Catholics in Taiwan.
They urge the government to curtail the ever increasing phenomenon of using surrogate mothers and have called for the promotion of natural procreative technology.
The appeal follows widespread local reports on some Uzbek women who were paid to give birth via artificial insemination to [...]

SMS Bible service aids busy Thai Catholics

The Thai Church has launched an SMS Bible service for laypeople to boost their spiritual growth.
About 100 lay Catholics have already signed up for the service since it was launched in mid-June, said Kaewilai Chitampai, a staff member of Bangkok archdiocese’s IT department which offers the service.
Subscribers pay a yearly subscription of 365 baht (US$11) [...]

Faithful welcome ban on ‘Illegal’ worship sites

Sri Lanka’s religious community welcomes a construction ban on illegal places of worship.
Prime Minister Disanayaka Mudiyanselage Jayaratne, who also heads the Buddha Sasana Ministry and is Religious Affairs Minister, announced the ban on June 23, saying all new places of worship need government approval, or they will be declared illegal and building work suspended.
He said [...]

Layman sells wakame to aid underprivileged

Satoshi Onodera of Japan’s Kamaishi Church sells wakame to help the needy.
For the past few years, the Catholic resident of Iwate Prefecture has been selling the seaweed, used in miso soup and other Japanese food, to support an organization for socially vulnerable people.
The group he helped create seven years ago was based on an older [...]

BJP MLA jailed for killing Orissa Christian

A leader of pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party has been sentenced to seven years’ jail for killing a Christian in the 2008 riots in Orissa.
Manoj Pradhan and his accomplice Praful Malik were sentenced on June 29 for the “fatal attack” on Parikhita Nayak. They were also fined 5,000 rupees (around US$ 100).
Pradhan is the elected Member of state [...]

‘Brothers’ surrender to face rape charges

Two alleged Catholic “lay brothers’ accused of raping five women have surrendered to a court in the southern Indian state of Kerala amid claims of a cover-up.
Police had been hunting Patrick George and Josey George since June 26, after the women, including a 16-year old, said the pair had raped them at a spiritual center.
The [...]

American priest rocks Bangalore youth

American Catholic Father Stan Fortuna, an internationally known musician, performed June 30 in Bangalore, enthralling a crowd some 1,000 young people.
Father Fortuna, wearing a grey Franciscan cassock and long hair, performed with five instruments — the piccolo, guitar, drums, keyboard, flute and mouth-organ.
The Praise and Worship meet called Magnificat was held in the auditorim of [...]

Hindus hold and quiz Christian students

Church people in central India have condemned apparent harassment of Christian students by Hindu hardliners.
Some 40 students from Orissa state were returning to their school in Indore on June 28 after summer vacation when members of the Dharam Rakshak Samiti (religion protection council) stopped their bus on the road, said Peter Masih and Abhijeet Masih, [...]

Muslims reject garbage dump cemetery site

Muslim leaders in Goa have rejected a proposal for a Muslim cemetery to be built near a garbage dump.
“The stinking site is not acceptable to Muslims because of the religious ceremonies involved,” said Abdulmatin Daud Carol, general secretary of a local mosque in Goa.
“We have urged the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) to hold a [...]

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