Australian pro-lifers lose challenge to abortion clinic buffer zones

Kochi, India, Sep 10, 2018 / 12:57 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Seven nuns gathered in a public square in Kochi on Saturday to protest how both police and the Church have responded to one nun’s accusation that a bishop raped her in 2014 and sexually abused her multiple times over two years.

Three more women have accused the bishop in recent days of sexual misconduct against them, but the congregation’s superior general maintains that the bishop is innocent.

“The Church has not given us justice. Neither have the police or government. So, we will fight. We feel that it was the Church which forced us onto the streets,” Sister Anupama of the Missionaries of Jesus, one of the protesters, told the Times of India Sept. 8.

A nun of the congregation has said that Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jullundur raped her during his May 2014 visit to her convent in Kuravilangad, in Kerala state. In a 72-page complaint to police, filed June 29, she alleged that the bishop sexually abused her more than a dozen times over two years.

Bishop Mulakkal has claimed the allegations were made in retaliation against him because he has acted against the nun’s sexual misconduct, the bishop told UCA News. He said the nun was alleged to be having an affair with her cousin’s husband.

Sister Anupama told the Times of India that “many times the sister was sexually abused by Bishop Mulackal and we had reported it to the Nuncio; they didn’t even send an acknowledgement on receiving our complaint. We also reported directly to Rome but even they haven’t responded.”

Five members of the Missionaries of Jesus protested on Saturday outside the Kerala High Court: Sister Anupama, Sister Neena Rose, Sister Ancitta, Sister Josephine, and one whose name was unmentioned because she is the natural sister of the alleged victim. They were joined by Sister Teena Jose and Sister Annie Jaise, who are members of a different congregation.

The protest was organized and supported by ecumenical groups, and friends and relatives of the alleged victim participated. Several priests and more nuns joined the protest the following day.

The News Minute reported that the Missionaries of Jesus are supporting Bishop Mulakkal. The congregation is based in the Dicoese of Jullundur, and Bishop Mulakkal is its patron.

The news outlet said the congregation issued a statement Monday stating: “We condemn the act by the sisters of our congregation who are protesting outside the High Court. As far as our congregation is concerned, we are ashamed and saddened by this protest.”

“Our consciousness does not allow us to stand with the victim and the sisters who are supporting her in order to crucify an innocent man … Our sister claims that the Bishop raped her on May 5, 2014 but even after that, there has been instances when the sister herself invited the Bishop for her various family functions which the Bishop had attended.”

The Missionaries of Jesus’ statement said the protesting nuns of the congregation do not belong to the Kuravilangad convent, and are protesting with the help of external forces: “This is evident from the various banners that are seen at the protest tents.”

It added, “We would like to warn all the cultural and political leaders who are coming out in support of the five sisters to be careful about not being cheated by them.”

Sister Anupama told The News Minute that “This is extremely painful that this support for the bishop has come from the community of nuns,” but she does not believe the statement was written by the superior general of the congregation. “The Missionaries of Jesus obeys what the bishop says, they would just sign at the place where he would want them to,” she charged.

Father Varghese Vallikkatt, deputy secretary general of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council, told the Times of India that the public protest “is unusual … if there is any truth in the allegations, there are enough forums within the Church to raise complaints. If there is any truth in the allegations by the nun, then she should also receive justice from the legal system. In the case of action within the Church, if she has given a complaint to the concerned forum, then I am sure that an investigation would be going on.”

A police official, K Subash, told the Times of India that “we need to be sure before taking a step further,” such as arresting Bishop Mulakkal. “During the last review meeting, IG Vijay Sakhare raised a few doubts and at least a couple more of them needs to be sorted out. We will report back to him as soon as that is done. Though an arrest is inevitable in similar cases, we are not rushing it for the sake of the credibility of the case itself.”

Bishop Mulakkal has claimed that he has been threatened and blackmailed by the nun’s family.

Fr. Peter Kavumkal, vicar general of the Jullundur diocese, told UCA News that the nun’s congregation had planned to dismiss her July 2.

“It is all planned and timed to blackmail the bishop from taking punitive action against her,” the priest charged, claiming that the diocese went to police first.

Fr. Kavumkal filed a June 22 complaint in both Punjab and Kerala, charging blackmail and threatening the life of the bishop.
 

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Hong Kong, China, Aug 22, 2019 / 12:12 am (CNA).- As massive protests continue in Hong Kong, one student leader says Catholics have an important role to play in encouraging demonstrators to remain peaceful in asserting their demands.

“The protests last Sunday [were] very peaceful, peaceful protests. And very luckily, there were no major conflicts between the police and the protestors,” Edwin Chow, acting president of the Hong Kong Federation of Catholic Students, told CNA in an interview.

Despite the threat of violence from police and growing concern about a potential crackdown by Chinese authorities, an estimated 1.7 million people took to the streets of Hong Kong last Sunday for a largely peaceful demonstration in the pouring rain.

The largest protest has so far this year has been an estimated 2 million-strong crowd on June 6. At some of the protests, police and some protesters have resorted to violence.

“From June to the previous protest, almost every time, the police have used tear gas and bullets. But this time, for this weekend, actually the police did not use any tear gas and they didn’t have any serious clash between the protesters and the police,” Chow said.

Protesters continue to demonstrate against the use of excessive force by the police, as well as the potential for Hong Kong to begin extraditing suspected criminals to stand trial in mainland China.

The bill proposing extraditions to China, which was introduced in Hong Kong’s government in February, has been indefinitely suspended, but Christians in Hong Kong remain worried that the Chinese Communist government will continue to find ways to persecute those who are helping Christians in mainland China, where freedom of religion is severely restricted.

“The Chinese government is suppressing the Church in mainland China, and so we are worried that when we have communication with the mainland Church, maybe one day the Chinese government will also arrest the Hong Kong people to suppress Hong Kong people,” Chow said.

The apostolic administrator of Hong Kong, Cardinal John Tong, has asked the government to eliminate the extradition law completely, and for an independent inquiry into the excessive use of force by the Hong Kong police.

The Hong Kong Federation of Catholic Students organized members to attend the protest and also held a prayer meeting before Sunday’s march. Chow said many more protests are already planned for August, and early next month students are planning to “strike” on the first day of class.

“My class will start on the 2nd of September, but actually the student union, most of the university students, we are planning to have a strike on that day. That is a must, I think, this will happen. We will go on strike.”

Chow, a student studying Government and International Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University, told CNA last week that he would like to see Catholics and other Christians take on a larger role in ongoing protests against the government.

While Chow said that Christians, among them Catholics, had a more major role when the protests began— leading the singing of hymns such as “Sing Hallelujah to the Lord” in the streets during the protests, for example— their role has since diminished.

“It’s a good chance for us to become united. Because I think for most of the Catholics and Christians, we have the same values, the same goal…so that’s why we cooperate, and I think after Christians and Catholics cooperate, our strengths, our power becomes stronger,” he told CNA last week.

Chow said he believes the protestors are changing their tactics to try to be less disruptive. A number of protests held in the last few weeks in the city’s busy international airport caused a lot of noise and disruption, he said.

“So the protestors adjusted their strategy. They think that a peaceful protest maybe can gain more support. I think due to the previous clash, and too much violence, maybe we have lost some support, so we want to gain it again,” Chow explained.

“And also I think the main theme of the protests is…police violence; it’s hard to convince people that we are against violence when we use violence. So I think this is the main reason why this protest this weekend was [more] peaceful.”

Chow believes that Christians groups can play an important role in encouraging protestors to remain peaceful and not be carried away by emotion.

“For the Catholic groups, for the Christian groups, we have the responsibility and we have the power to calm our friends down. Because I think singing hymns, just in the beginning, it creates a peaceful atmosphere, and it has a power to keep everyone very calm. So I think we can use this when we do this again.”

Chow said there is an interesting protest set to take place this Friday, wherein protestors plan to form a human chain as part of the demonstration.

“This week, almost every day we have protests,” he said.

“For tomorrow, the secondary students also have their own protest, their own assembly…it’s a very busy month, very busy, these two months for Hong Kong people. Because actually, we almost protest every day.”

Chow said the Catholic clergy have been very supportive. The Federation invited bishop emeritus Cardinal Joseph Zen to celebrate Mass on June 16, in front of the government headquarters.

Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing has also been very active in going to the protest sites, supporting the young people, and vocally supporting the protestors. Bishop Ha took part in a continuous ecumenical prayer meeting outside the Legislative Council building with thousands of Christians overnight after one rally.

“Other ordinary Catholics, some of the older Catholics, they also join in our activities,” Chow said. “So you can see that not only the teenagers are supporting, participating in the whole protest, but the older people, some adults…they also join, they also support the whole protest.”

In the US, the Archdiocese of San Francisco Chinese Ministry and the Office of Human Life & Dignity are inviting the faithful to a prayer vigil for Hong Kong at 6:30 pm on August 26 at St. Anne of the Sunset Church in San Francisco. The service is set to include scripture readings, Eucharistic Adoration, and Benediction.

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Hong Kong, China, Jan 4, 2019 / 02:33 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-cheung of Hong Kong died in hospital Thursday at the age of 73, after suffering liver failure due to cirrhosis.

He had been admitted to Canossa (Caritas) Hospital Dec. 27, and died the afternoon of Jan. 3.

A board of eight senior members of Hong Kong’s Church administration met Jan. 4 to discuss the diocese’ future leadership, and decided to hold off on choosing an acting bishop as interim leader of the diocese until after Yeung’s funeral, the South China Morning News reports.

Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing of Hong Kong reportedly told the media that the diocese was particularly saddened by Bishop Yeung’s death, because his condition had been described as stable only a few hours before his death, though he had evidently been facing health problems for several years.

The bishop’s funeral Mass will be said Jan. 11.

Bishop Yeung was born Dec. 1, 1945 in Shanghai, and ordained a priest of the Hong Kong diocese in 1978 after studying at a pontifical Roman university.

He then earned a master’s degree in communications from Syracuse University in 1982, and later a master’s degree in education from Harvard University in 1990.

Since August 2003 he had served as the head of Caritas Hong Kong, and was vicar general from 2009.

He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Hong Kong in 2014, and coadjutor bishop in 2016. He succeeded  Cardinal John Tong Hon Aug. 1, 2017.

From the very first homily after his installation, Bishop Yeung talked about serving the poor, the sick, and the needy, because, in his words, “the well-being of society requires the fostering of genuine ecology and unceasing efforts to bring about integral human development,” and said that “the Chinese government has generally encouraged the religious sector to participate more in social and charitable services.”

The Caritas Institute of Higher Education, of which Yeung was chair, held a Requiem Mass for the bishop’s soul Jan. 4. The school is seeking to be recognized as a university and change its name to “St. Francis University,” the organization announced in 2014.

As a special administrative region, Hong Kong has a large degree of autonomy from mainland China, with its own political and economic system. The territory was a British colony from 1842 until 1997.

There are some 581,000 Catholics in Hong Kong, or about eight percent of the population.

Bishop Yeung previously told CNA in an interview that the Catholic Church “mustn’t compete with the communist party for power and authority in this world. The Lord Jesus never told the disciples to compete with the Roman empire…the Church has, however, her role to play. She is called to have a good attitude to dialogue, and at the same time she is called to tell the truth, and to speak out against social injustice, when the latter happens.”

Yeung’s death comes at a time of rapprochement between the Vatican and the Chinese government. Last month, two bishops of the Vatican-approved underground Catholic Church in China agreed to step aside in favor of bishops of the communist-supported Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, in the wake of a September 2018 deal signed between the Holy See and the Chinese government.

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