For Gaza Christians, no Christmas travels to Bethlehem and Jerusalem

Karachi, Pakistan, Jun 27, 2018 / 01:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Ahead of tomorrow’s Vatican consistory, Pakistani Archbishop Joseph Coutts sees his upcoming elevation to the rank of cardinal as a sign of papal concern for a country coping with the heightened presence of extremist groups.

Archbishop Coutts of Karachi will become cardinal at a June 28 consistory at the Vatican, alongside 13 other prelates representing the global Church and a variety of Vatican offices.

In an interview with CNA ahead of the ceremony, Coutts warned that his country is facing the threat of growing extremism from those pushing for a strict Islamic state.

The general atmosphere of religious freedom encapsulated in the nation’s founding has been eroded and now faces new threats from more radical strains of Islamic thought seeping into the country, he said.

“Many of our imams are now going to Saudi Arabia to study theology, and are coming back preaching against music and dancing, which is forbidden in Wahhabi Islam.”

Wahhabism, a severe school of Islam founded by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and centered in Saudi Arabia, was identified by the European Parliament in 2013 as the primary source of global terrorism.

Even the increase in suicide attacks in Pakistan can be traced back to this influence, Coutts said, noting that suicide is forbidden in Islam generally.

“But they justify it in the name of religion,” he said. “If you say my religion is the best religion and all the other religions are not good, then I justify myself in using force or violence, whatever it is, to get rid of the other.”

The majority of Muslims in Pakistan are moderate, Coutts said, explaining that the extremists only make up about 5 percent or less of the total population.

“There are Muslims who say, ‘We have no problem with democracy, it does not clash with Islamic thinking, and that’s why we are a democracy’,” he said. But the extremists “don’t accept democracy, they don’t accept the international declaration of human rights, they say it’s not Islamic.”

“We’ve always had these kinds of people on the fringes, but they weren’t dominant,” he added. “Now they are becoming more assertive.”

Asked whether he believes Pakistan could become an Islamic state, Coutts said the possibility is real, but depends on several factors, including pressure from more radical Islamic nations such Saudi Arabia.

However, if the country, which is holding general elections July 26, begins to shift in that direction, “it means leading to a lot of clashes, because there are many who don’t want it to be that way,” Coutts said.

“If these guys keep pushing their agenda, you’ll reach a point of clash. Somebody will push back.”

The Catholic Church in Pakistan is a leading presence in works of charity and has long spoken out on behalf of minority rights, condemning persecution, specifically related to the country’s anti-blasphemy law, which Coutts said is very easily manipulated.

Ultimately, though, he said the Church’s role in the nation is limited by its size. “What role can you have when you’re two percent? There’s a saying that when two elephants fight, the grass suffers.”

Coutts, who has served as Archbishop of Karachi since 2012, will be Pakistan’s only cardinal after tomorrow’s consistory.

Being made a cardinal will not have much practical effect on the Church’s role in the country, he said. But what the red hat does signify is Pope Francis’ concern for Pakistan and the Christian presence in the nation.

“It’s an honor for the country,” he said, noting that Pakistani Muslims, who generally have a positive view of Francis, feel the same way, and have voiced their appreciation and asked when a papal visit might take place.

“It shows the respect for the Holy Father that people have. They consider him a very good, moral leader, a religious leader who is promoting peace and understanding. They have high respect for him.”

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The Cathedral of St. Elias and St. Gregory the Illuminator in Beirut, Lebanon, the cathedra of the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate of Cilicia. / Jari Kurittu via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0).

Beirut, Lebanon, May 26, 2021 / 17:00 pm (CNA).
Catholicos-Pa… […]

Obala, Cameroon, Jun 7, 2017 / 03:17 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Local news reports say that “signs of torture” have been found on the body of a Cameroonian bishop whose body was found in a river last week.

Unusual circumstances surrounded the death of Bishop Jean-Marie Benoît Balla of Bafia, leading some to think he had committed suicide.

Bishop Balla, who was 58, left his residence late in the evening of May 30. He disappeared, and his car was found parked on the Sanaga bridge near Ebebda, about 25 miles northwest of Obala. His body was found June 2, about 10 miles from the bridge.

A note was found in his car which reportedly read: “Do not look for me! I am in the water.”

While some believe this was the bishop’s suicide note, others believe he may have been murdered, due to other unsolved murders of priests in the country. The bishop’s autopsy seems to support those suspicions.

The autopsy shows that the bishop’s body spent fewer than 4 hours in the water before it was found, even though his body was found several days after he had disappeared. The autopsy also notes the lack of water in his lungs, which would have been present had he died by drowning.

“The body removed from the river Sanaga had a stiffened arm, folded on its abdomen indicating that Bishop Balla was not fighting against the fury of the waters. Bishop Balla was tortured and brutally murdered,” stated the findings of the autopsy, according to BaretaNews.

Father Ludovic Lado, a Cameroonian Jesuit living in Ivory Coast, told the African edition of La Croix that for the most part, the suspected cause of death in the case has now moved from suicide to murder.

Archbishop Cornelius Esua of Bamenda told the daily Le Jour that Bishop Balla “did not seem to us as troubled as that (to have committed suicide),” and noted that bishop suicides are rare.

“The bishops do not commit suicide,” he said.

Fr. Lado noted that it was hard to imagine why a “discreet and devoted” person like Bishop Balla would be the target of assassins. The Cameroon Concord notes that the bishop was a beloved pastor whom the faithful often called “Papa Benoit,” and he was known especially for his care for the sick and under-served.

Fr. Lado added that some have suspected a link between the bishop’s death and the death of Father Armel Collins Ndjama, the rector of the minor seminary of Bafia, who was found dead in his room earlier in May.

Reportedly, Bishop Balla was particularly affected by the death of the young priest and cancelled several of his appointments after finding out about his death.

Catholic leaders in the country have called for prayers for Bishop Balla, as the investigations surrounding the bishop’s death are ongoing.

Bishop Balla was born in 1959, and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Yaounde in 1987. He was consecrated Bishop of Bafia in 2003.

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