China offers rewards for reporting underground churches

Vatican City, Oct 11, 2018 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- There must be “some sort of religious freedom” in North Korea before a papal visit to Pyongyang, a South Korean bishop said Thursday.

Bishop Yoo Heung Sik of Daejeon, who has made multiple trips to North Korea on behalf of the South Korean Bishops Conference, originally welcomed the news that South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in and Chairman Kim Jong Un had discussed inviting Pope Francis to visit the DPRK during their meeting in late-September.

“It would be a giant step forward for peace on the Korean peninsula,” Bishop Yoo told reporters at an Oct. 11 Vatican press conference.

The bishop cautioned that “in order for him [Pope Francis] to go there, some things in North Korea should change.”

“For example, there are no priests in North Korea,” he continued.

Pyongyang was once referred to as the “Jerusalem of the East” and was considered a center of Christianity in Northeast Asia.

Just before the Korean War broke in 1950, most of the priests in North Korea were captured, killed, or disappeared, according to the Korean Bishops Conference. The beatification process has begun for 40 monks and sisters of Tokwon Benedictine Abbey who were martyred by the Communists.

In 1988, the “Korean Catholic Association” created by the Communist government registered 800 members. This association is not recognized by the Vatican, but is one of three state-sponsored churches that operate in North Korea under strict supervision of the Communist authorities.

Mass is occasionally celebrated in Pyongyang’s Changchung Cathedral when a foreign priest is on an official visit to the country, but on Sundays a liturgy of the word is usually celebrated by state-appointed layperson. The Catholic See of Pyongyang is vacant and the last bishop was appointed in March 1944. There are no native Catholic clerics in North Korea.

North Korea has consistently been ranked the worst country for persecution of Christians by Open Doors. Christians within the atheist state have faced arrest, re-education in labor camps, or, in some cases, execution for their faith.

A United Nations investigation in 2014 produced a 372-page report that documented crimes against humanity, including execution, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, forced abortions, and knowingly causing prolonged starvation.

The U.S. State Department estimates that there are currently an estimated 80,000 to 120,000 people in North Korea’s six political prison camps.

On June 12, President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un met in Singapore and signed a joint-statement making commitments “to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.”

Human rights were “discussed relatively briefly compared to denuclearization,” according to President Trump, who also said that North Korea’s abduction of Japanese citizens and the regime’s persecution of Christians were brought up in his 45 minute conversation with Kim.

Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea to discuss details for a second summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim to continue negotiation of the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, according to the State Department.

If President Trump helps Koreans achieve “a peaceful, united Korea” then “he will become an American president who makes history working for world peace,” Bishop Yoo told CNA.

The South Korean bishop said that the de-escalation of nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula this year is “thanks to the Holy Spirit.”

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Karachi, Pakistan, Aug 9, 2019 / 10:09 am (CNA).- Catholic and other religious leaders signed a joint resolution Thursday encouraging the Pakistani government to adopt policies to protect religious minorities.

The leaders held a press conference in Karachi Aug. 8 organized by Aid to the Church in Need – Italy and by local advocate Tabassum Yousaf.

In attendence were Fr. Saleh Diego, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Karachi, who represented Cardinal Joseph Coutts. Representatives of the country’s Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, and Baha’i communities  were also present and signed the resolution.

The join resolution, sent to prime minister Imran Khan and obtained by CNA, includes 10 recommendations meant to safeguard the rights of minorities and women.

Pakistan’s state religion is Islam, and around 97 percent of the population is Muslim.

The country’s authorities have consistently failed to implement safeguards on behalf of religious minorities, despite numerous policies in favor of economic and physical protections for members of non-Muslim religions.

The first point adopted in the joint resolution urges that the minimum age for marriage be made 18 years; the current marriage age for women is now 16.

The religious minorities also ask for the opportunity for better economic development, which they are not guaranteed at the moment.

The religious leaders encouraged a federal ministry for religious minorities, and the application of a quota for educational scholarships given to minorities.

In 2013 the then-governing party, the Pakistan Muslim League (N), promised a quota for jobs in the educational institutes and the public sector for members of religious minorities. The Pakistan Peoples Party discussed an Equality Commission to monitor job quotas in Sindh.

Both parties are now in the opposition in the national parliament, and the proposed safeguards have not been put into action.

The joint resolution urges protection of minorities’ houses of worship from government seizure; designated minority worship areas in jails, hospitals, and state institutions; and the passage of legislation to prevent religious discrimination in employment, education, and society.

The religious leaders also asked for government subsidies for security at minorities’ schools. In December 2017, Islamic State group-affiliated suicide bombers attacked a Methodist church in Quetta, killing nine people.

The joint resolution said minorities “should be given particular protection” against the abuse of the country’s blasphemy laws.

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws impose strict punishment on those who desecrate the Quran or who defame or insult Muhammad. Although the government has never executed a person under the blasphemy law, accusations alone have inspired mob and vigilante violence.

Blasphemy laws are reportedly used to settle scores or to persecute religious minorities; while non-Muslims constitute only 3 percent of the Pakistani population, 14 percent of blasphemy cases have been levied against them.

Many of those accused of blasphemy are murdered, and advocates of changing the law are also targeted by violence.

The blasphemy laws were introduced between 1980 and 1986. The National Commission for Justice and Peace said over 1,300 people were accused under this law from 1987 until 2014. The Centre for Research and Security Studies reported that at least 65 people have been killed by vigilantes since 1990.

In the joint resolution the religious leaders also noted that “there is no forced conversion according to the Holy Quran.” On that basis, they urged legislation against abduction, sexual violence, and subsequent forced conversion to Islam, which acts they said do not propagate “the true spirit of Islam.”

The joint resolution also called for the elimination from books of material encouraging hatred.

Earlier this year Sam Brownback, the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, applauded Pakistan for showing a willingness to enhance religious liberty, while also recognizing the need for significant improvement.

Brownback met with Pakistani government and religious leaders Feb. 22-23.

“During these meetings, Ambassador Brownback emphasized the importance the United States places on religious freedom, the protection of religious minorities, and respect,” the US embassy in Pakistan stated.

In December 2018, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo named Pakistan as one of 10 “Countries of Particular Concern,” a designation given to states that engage in or tolerate egregious, ongoing religious freedom violations.

That designation marked the first year that Pakistan had been placed on the list. The previous year, it had been placed on a “Special Watch List.”

[…]

Adelaide, Australia, Feb 16, 2019 / 05:15 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A local bishop is speaking out against a bill to remove regulations on abortion in Adelaide, Australia, saying it would be the nation’s most radical abortion law.

“The unborn deserve love and protection, not destruction,” said Bishop Gregory O’Kelly SJ, apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Port Pirie.

He warned that the legislation being considered “drastically reduces safeguards for the unborn” and would allow abortions “even well into the ninth month of pregnancy.”

In a Feb. 14 letter to the people of his diocese, O’Kelly said the faithful “should all be extremely concerned about the proposed Abortion Law Reform Bill.”

The Adelaide proposal would place abortion under the regulations of the state’s health laws, rather than the state’s criminal code. This would remove current rules such a requirement that a woman have been a resident in South Australia for at least two months before procuring an abortion.

The legislation would also ban protestors from entering within 150 meters of an abortion clinic.

The bill was introduced to Parliament by Greens MP Tammy Franks and will be debated in the comings weeks, with a vote later this year.

Similar legislation was recently passed in Queensland.

“This bill treats abortion simply as a medical procedure without moral significance,” O’Kelly said in his letter. “There is no need for a medical opinion or a doctor’s involvement and no reason need be given for an abortion. It will be the most radical abortion law in the country.”

“We believe life to be a gift of God, to be cherished and revered,” the bishop continued. “Christ said that he came that we might have life and have it to the full. Abortion is the destruction of the human life, an act that defies the sacred.”

He urged people to contact their local Member of Parliament and ask them to vote against the bill.

Bishop O’Kelly also published a letter from Dr. Elvis Šeman, a gynecologist and member of the Guild of St Luke.

The doctor stressed the adverse effects that abortion can have on a woman’s physical, psychological and emotional health.

He warned that the proposed legislation “aims to radically deregulate abortion and outlaw two important things – conscientious objection to abortion and the freedom to pray and offer pregnancy support near abortion clinics.”

Under the bill, he said, abortion could “be performed by a non-medical provider, using any method and for any reason (including sex-selection for social reasons), at any gestation (up to term), leaving babies born alive to die, and using SA Health funding without the accountability of reporting.”

Furthermore, Šeman warned, “Imposing a ‘health access’ zone makes pregnancy support services unlawful within 150m, restricts freedom of speech, denies potential support to vulnerable women who are ambivalent or may have been coerced, and provides excessive powers to police.”

The doctor also emphasized the need to do more for women facing difficult pregnancies.  

“As a Church community, I believe that, with few notable exceptions, we have done poorly in supporting those women and their families facing an unplanned pregnancy. They are left at the mercy of a health system which fast-tracks women to abortion and offers no alternatives.”

Bishop O’Kelly agreed that the Church must reach out to women in need.

“We believe our main focus should be on supporting women who find themselves faced with an unplanned pregnancy and are grappling with this terrible choice,” he said, “while also offering our unequivocal support and prayers to those women who are experiencing grief and loss.”

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