Vatican City, Feb 19, 2020 / 12:01 pm (CNA).- In the United States, Eastern Catholics face many of the same challenges as Latin rite Catholics, but the Eastern Catholic Churches are particularly concerned about growing anti-immigrant rhetoric and the p… […]
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Mumbai, India, Feb 19, 2020 / 09:30 am (CNA).- The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India has reelected Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the archbishop of Bombay, as president of the conference for a second term. The election was held on February 17.
Gracias turned 75 in December. In accord with canon law, he has already submitted his resignation to the pope, but is expected to continue as Archbishop of Bombay for the foreseeable future.
The cardinal is also one of the members of the Council of Cardinal Advisers– known as the “C6”–a group of six cardinals who advise Pope Francis on the governance of the universal Church and on the preparation of a new governing constitution for the Roman Curia.
On the same day that Gracias was re-elected by the Indian bishops, the C6 held its first meeting of 2020 with a three-day session in Rome from Feb. 17-19.
Gracias will begin his new two-year term leading the Indian bishops’ conference at a time when the persecution of Christians in the country has increased. In October 2019, Bishop Kishore Kumar Kujur of Rourkela, speaking to Aid to the Church in Need, said that India’s Christians “are living mostly in fear at the present–much more in the north, where they are a minority.”
“There is a fear about how the government will react now the right wing has taken over. We have apprehensions it will not go well for the Christians,” said Kujur.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is widely perceived as favorable to the Hindu nationalist movement and, since his election in 2014, there have been more frequent reports of violence and persecution against Christians.
India was scheduled to host the 2021 Asian Youth Day celebration for young Catholics of the continent, but pulled out of the commitment last month, in part due to fears of governmental hostility to the event.
“Our country was given the responsibility of hosting Asian Youth Day … After consultations with higher authorities, it was decided that it was better to call off the event as the present scenario does not allow us to hold the program,” Bishop Nazarene Soosai of Kottar, head of the Indian bishops’ youth commission, told ucanews Jan. 6.
“We had hoped that there would be a change of government in 2019, but that did not happen and the present situation does not look good either,” added Soosai.
India previously hosted Asian Youth Day in 2003.
Modi’s political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, came to power in 2014, and gained seats in the 2019 election.
According to the 2019 report from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, “religious freedom conditions in India continued a downward trend” in 2018.
The commission said India’s “history of religious freedom has come under attack in recent years with the growth of exclusionary extremist narratives—including, at times, the government’s allowance and encouragement of mob violence against religious minorities—that have facilitated an egregious and ongoing campaign of violence, intimidation, and harassment against non-Hindu and lower-caste Hindu minorities. Both public and private actors have engaged in this campaign.”
Gracias’ reelection as head of the bishops’ conference, despite his being past the normal retirement age for a bishop, comes just weeks after the announcement by Cardinal Reinhard Marx, another member of the Council of Cardinal Advisers, that he will step down as head of his own bishops’ conference, in part because of his age.
On Feb. 11, Cardinal Marx said he would not seek reelection as head of the German bishops’ conference. He said he wants to spend more time in his Archdiocese of Münich-Freising and to allow “a younger generation” to lead the Church in Germany. Marx is 66 years old.
Vatican City, Feb 19, 2020 / 04:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis said Wednesday that a meek Christian is not weak, but defends his faith and controls his temper.
“The meek person is not accommodating, but is a disciple of Christ who has learned to def… […]
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In the recent post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Querida Amazonia (Beloved Amazon), Pope Francis refers to the transmission throughout time—the traditionary process—of the “authentic Tradition of the Church” (§66). Tradition here is spelt with a capital T. […]
Philadelphia, Pa., Feb 18, 2020 / 04:48 pm (CNA).- The hope of Christ is far more profound than hope as the world defines it, Archbishop Nelson Perez said during his homily at his installation Mass […]
Editor’s note: This is the second essay in a three-part series on “Reading Scripture during Lent”. Part One was “A Catholic Understanding of the Bible”. Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? That question […]
Nanyang, China, Feb 18, 2020 / 04:23 pm (CNA).- Bishop Joseph Zhu Baoyu, Bishop Emeritus of Nanyang, has recovered from coronavirus. At age 98, he is among the oldest infected patients to have recovered.
Bishop Zhu was diagnosed with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus, Feb. 3. He was treated at a hospital in Nanyang, in China’s Henan province, and was said to be no longer infected Feb. 14.
In mainland China the fatality rate from coronavirus is 2.3%, though that figure jumps to nearly 15% for those 80 years or older.
In mainland China, the death toll of the coronavirus has reached 1,868, and more than 72,400 have been infected in the country.
Originating in Hubei province (which borders Henan), the new strain of coronavirus can cause fever, cough, and difficulty breathing. In some cases, it can lead to pneumonia, kidney failure, and severe acute respiratory syndrome.
Most of the reported cases of COVID-19 are in mainland China, but it has spread to 26 countries, with about 600 cases outside mainland China.
There have been five deaths outside mainland China, in Hong Kong, France, the Philippines, Japan, and Taiwan.
According to the Chinese health authority, 80.9% of coronavirus infections are mild, 13.8% are severe, and 4.7% are critical.
The Vatican has donated between 600,000 to 700,000 facemasks to help stop the spread of the virus.
Jinde Charities, a government-recognized Catholic group in China, has also provided $132 million worth of aid to support medical treatment.
“Given the continuing severity of the epidemic, the provision of medical supplies such as protective clothing and masks to designated hospitals remains a top priority,” the charity said Feb. 12.
“At present, the entire society, including the Chinese Catholic Church, is fighting the epidemic to save people,” it added.
Bishop Zhu was ordained a priest in 1957, and in 1995 was consecrated a bishop, having been appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Nanyang. He succeeded as ordinary in 2002, and retired in 2010 at the age of 89. He was succeeded by his coadjutor, Bishop Peter Jin Lugang.
Bishop Zhu was a bishop of the underground Church, and was long imprisoned and in re-education camps.
After his retirement he was recognized by the Chinese government, which continues to consider him the ordinary of the Diocese of Nanyang. The government did not recognize Bishop Jin’s consecration until 2019, and it considers him a coadjutor.
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