Marking the 100th anniversary of Mother Teresa's birthday, hundreds of nuns, bishops and devotees attended a Mass to celebrate the selfless nun who dedicated her life to helping hundreds of thousands of poor and sick in India. A coin will be released in her honor by the Indian government and the Indian Railways will be launching a blue and white train that will travel the country with an exhibition on Mother Teresa.
Sister Mary Prema, the nun who now heads the Missionaries of Charity, said, "Her life and work continue to be an inspiration for the young and the old, the rich and the poor, from all walks of life, religions and nations."
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Sacred space saved
A sacred mountain in remote Orissa has been saved from bauxite mining. Taking into account such factors as this sacred mountain, disturbance of the Dongria Kondh tribe lifestyle and tribal traditions, and the effects on ecosystems-water sources-wildlife-water pollution-displacement-deforestation-endangered species led the Indian government to reject an operation in the Niyamgiri Hill range by a multinational company.
Times to die
Accelerating National Health Service cutbacks in England have chaplains concerned patients of religious faith facing operations or even death without the opportunity of spiritual comfort. NHS "cutbacks in the out-of-hours services mean that you should not die out of hours if you want spiritual help. Die only between nine and five,” warned Carol English who works with the College of Health Care Chaplains in London.
Archbishop Vincent Nichols, head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, said the NHS reduces the sick and the dying to “a bundle of genes and actions. There is a hidden violence in so many of our systems, even those of care, because their operational mode is reductionist. If we reduce death to a clinical event and manage it through a series of standard procedures then we do not deal with death well, either clinically or humanly.”
Archbishop Vincent Nichols, head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, said the NHS reduces the sick and the dying to “a bundle of genes and actions. There is a hidden violence in so many of our systems, even those of care, because their operational mode is reductionist. If we reduce death to a clinical event and manage it through a series of standard procedures then we do not deal with death well, either clinically or humanly.”
Ancient manuscript
Recent tests confirm what the monks have held all along - a brightly illustrated book written on goatskin are some of the oldest Christian writings in existence. The Garima Gospels, possibly dating as far back as 330 AD, are kept under lock and key in a blue, circular monastery in the center of an Ethiopian monastery for the best part of the last 1600 years. The monks believe the books also hold magical properties.
The isolated Abuna Garima monastery clings to a mountainside 2130m above sea level and is located in Ethiopia's Tigray Highlands. The monks there have guarded the sacred book from centuries of various threats. Now, a restoration funded by the Ethiopian Heritage Fund has now been completed. Bookbinder, Lester Capon, spent three laborious weeks redoing and restoring bindings that held the pages together. New carbon testing has provided a scientific confirmation to what the monks have always insisted as to the age of the Garima Gospels.
The isolated Abuna Garima monastery clings to a mountainside 2130m above sea level and is located in Ethiopia's Tigray Highlands. The monks there have guarded the sacred book from centuries of various threats. Now, a restoration funded by the Ethiopian Heritage Fund has now been completed. Bookbinder, Lester Capon, spent three laborious weeks redoing and restoring bindings that held the pages together. New carbon testing has provided a scientific confirmation to what the monks have always insisted as to the age of the Garima Gospels.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Lying Buddha
Bangladesh - Soon the Buddhist population in Bangladesh will have a new lying Buddha statue, the largest in the country. It is to be 100 feet long, 30 feet high and situated on a hillock in the Ramu Township in Co'xs Bazar near the border with Burma.
Already 75% complete, it expected to be finished within the next 2-3 months.
"Bangladesh is a Muslim-dominated country but...I built the statue for the Buddhist community," said Buddhist monk, the Venerable Karunasree Bhikku.
Already 75% complete, it expected to be finished within the next 2-3 months.
"Bangladesh is a Muslim-dominated country but...I built the statue for the Buddhist community," said Buddhist monk, the Venerable Karunasree Bhikku.
Hard line on crime
Nigeria - During the consecration of Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh as the Primate of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, acting President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has told the country's religious leaders to neither condone or encourage corruption or crime in his speech given at the Cathedral Church of Advent in Abuja.
“Yes, he’s a brother, yes the Lord says that until you are proven guilty it is assumed that you are innocent, so you must help to get a brother out of problem," said the President. He reminded the leaders that when he was deputy governor and was approached for help or bail money, his attitude was, "assuming you went and raped a girl and you expect me to go and talk to the Police to release you, I will not.”
Jonathan said Nigeria faces many challenges and that churches must remain firm in their duty to help correct the ills of society, not to bail out the criminals with what resources they have.
“Yes, he’s a brother, yes the Lord says that until you are proven guilty it is assumed that you are innocent, so you must help to get a brother out of problem," said the President. He reminded the leaders that when he was deputy governor and was approached for help or bail money, his attitude was, "assuming you went and raped a girl and you expect me to go and talk to the Police to release you, I will not.”
Jonathan said Nigeria faces many challenges and that churches must remain firm in their duty to help correct the ills of society, not to bail out the criminals with what resources they have.
Media bias and bigotry
UK - Leading figures in the UK's religious community and in a number of prominent organizations have condemned what is perceived as a rise in Islamophobia, seeing it as a viable threat to democracy.
Castigating negative coverage of Muslims in the media and the rise in groups like the English Defence League which marched through central London with placards calling for the closure of the East London Mosque, these voices are warning of history repeating itself - reminding the British people of the 1930's when Oswald Mosley's blackshirts attempted to intimidate the Jewish community.
Billy Hayes, General secretary, Communication Workers Union; Rev. Green, Chair, Tower Hamlets Interfaith forum; Dr. Friedman, Executive director, Jewish Council for Racial Equality; Dr. Bari, Secretary general, Muslim Council of Britain; Sabby Dhalu Joint secretary, Unite Against Fascism and Bell Ribeiro-Addy, NUS black students officer, are but of few of those speaking out against anti-Muslim sentiments.
Castigating negative coverage of Muslims in the media and the rise in groups like the English Defence League which marched through central London with placards calling for the closure of the East London Mosque, these voices are warning of history repeating itself - reminding the British people of the 1930's when Oswald Mosley's blackshirts attempted to intimidate the Jewish community.
Billy Hayes, General secretary, Communication Workers Union; Rev. Green, Chair, Tower Hamlets Interfaith forum; Dr. Friedman, Executive director, Jewish Council for Racial Equality; Dr. Bari, Secretary general, Muslim Council of Britain; Sabby Dhalu Joint secretary, Unite Against Fascism and Bell Ribeiro-Addy, NUS black students officer, are but of few of those speaking out against anti-Muslim sentiments.
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