A Book by Anto Akkara: Who Killed Swamy Laxmananand: Story of Kandhamal;

July 26, 2016 at 11:09 am (SILENT VOICE)

Jurist calls Kandhamal book a wake-up call for nation

Jesuit Father Ambrose Pinto, a social analyst, referring to how the author has proved that the Swami’s murder and subsequent conflagration was a well-planned conspiracy, said the book “lays out the agenda of hate of the Sangh Parivar.”

Though Maoists had claimed responsibility, the book points out, prosecution chose to indict Christians.

Bengaluru:A book investigating the sequence of events connected with anti-Christian violence in Odisha’s Kandhamal district is a “wake up call” for the nation, says Advocate-General of Karnataka Ravivarma Kumar.

“The content of the book has grave implications for Indian democracy,’ Kumar said while releasing the book, ‘Who killed Swami Laxmanananda?’ on July 23 in Bangalore.

Journalist Anto Akkara authored the book after several years of research and studies on why seven Christians were convicted for the murder despite courts having no adequate proofs.

Kumar, the senior lawyer noted that the Christians were given life terms despite the fact that there was “no eyewitness to the murder and hardly any evidence.”

The murder on Aug. 23, 2008 triggered the violence against Christians claiming nealry100 lives. The three-month long pogrom also destroyed 300 churches and displaced some 56,000 Christians as Hindu fanatics torched 6,000 Christians houses. The violence was result of an orchestrated rumor that the swami’s murder was a Christian conspiracy.

In dealing with the pogrom and the cases related to it, “the legislature and the executive have lost credibility, and the Judiciary is the last bastion of hope for the nation,” Kumar said.

“A disaster is unfolding on the nation. We need to wake up, even if just five of us or a handful, and we must fight any injustice so that justice is upheld,” the senior advocate said.

He recalled that the Sangh Parivar had been associated with anti-national activities and the spreading of hate since pre-Independence times. They had cooperated with the colonizers, were active in anti-Muslim violence during Partition, and later in Gandhiji’s assassination.

The author with a multimedia presentation, claimed contract killers were engaged to murder of the swami and innocent Christians – six of them illiterates – were convicted to life imprisonment by a fraudulent trial. The effort is to perpetrate the fraud that the swami’s murder was a Christian conspiracy.

“Nearly three years after the conviction, their appeal is yet to come up for hearing in Odisha High Court. The verdict was given by a third judge after two Fast Track Court judges were transferred,” Akkara pointed out.

“The conviction of the seven innocents without a shred of evidence against them is a blot on the judicial system of the country,” lamented Akkara urging all present to sign the online petition for their release at http://www.release7 innocents.com.

Though Maoists had claimed responsibility, the book points out, prosecution chose to indict Christians. The book shows how the Sangh Parivar had engineered the violence, hoping the federal government would dismiss the Odisha government in which the BJP was a coalition partner then. That would have given them advantage in the national elections in 2009, the book reasoned.

But alerted to this game-plan by intelligence reports, the UPA government refrained, derailing the Sangh’s wild expectations, Akkara claimed.

Courtesy: UCANews…

Kandhamal ,Orissa Martyrs Day ,Anti-Christian Violence

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Vatican Denies Changes in the Celebration of Mass;

July 12, 2016 at 7:43 am (SILENT VOICE)

“there are no new liturgical directives starting from next Advent, as someone has improperly deduced from some words of Cardinal Sarah, and it is better to avoid using the expression ‘the reform of the reform,’ referring to the liturgy, given that this has sometimes been the source of misunderstanding.”

Gerard O’Connell | Jul 11 2016 – 1:45pm |

Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, speaking at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, May 17 (CNS photo/Bob Roller).

The Vatican has denied media reports, based on recent statements made by Cardinal Robert Sarah in London, claiming that there will be changes in the celebration of the Mass from next Advent with the priest facing the east, and that “a reform of the reform” of the liturgy is under way.

The Vatican statement, issued on the evening of July 11 by Federico Lombardi, S.J., director of the Holy See Press Office, said “there are no new liturgical directives starting from next Advent, as someone has improperly deduced from some words of Cardinal Sarah, and it is better to avoid using the expression ‘the reform of the reform,’ referring to the liturgy, given that this has sometimes been the source of misunderstanding.”

The Vatican statement declared that “all this was expressly agreed during a recent audience given by the pope to the said Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship.” That meeting took place last Saturday, July 9, as reported in the Press Office bulletin.

The cardinal’s statements in London, made at the Sacra Liturgia conference on July 5, caused consternation and much confusion in many parts of the church across the world, and in the Vatican, too. They raised the fundamental question as to whether the cardinal was acting on his own accord or whether he had received authorization from higher levels in the Vatican for saying such things. Today’s Vatican communique makes clear that Francis never authorized any such statements and that these do not correspond to what is envisaged in the liturgical books approved by the pope.

VATICAN STATEMENT: The following is a working translation of the Vatican press statement made byAmerica’s Vatican correspondent, in the absence of an official translation.

SOME CLARIFICATIONS ON THE CELEBRATION OF THE MASS

A clarification is opportune following news reports circulating in the media after a conference held in London some days ago by Cardinal Sarah, the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship.

Cardinal Sarah has always been rightly concerned for the dignity of the celebration of the Mass, in a way that expresses adequately the attitude of respect and adoration for the Eucharistic mystery.

Some expressions were nevertheless badly interpreted as if they announced new indications differing from those given to-date in the liturgical norms and in the words of the pope on the celebration (looking) towards the people and on the ordinary rite of Mass.

It is therefore good to recall that in the General Order of the Roman Missale (Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani), that contains the norms relating to the Eucharistic celebration and (which) are still fully in force, No. 299 states that “the altar is built separated from the wall, so as to be able to move around it easily and to celebrate looking towards the people, which thing is convenient to realize wherever possible. The altar is to be place in a way so as to really constitute the center towards which the attention of the people spontaneously converges.”

Pope Francis, for his part, on the occasion of his visit to the Dicastery (Congregation for Divine Worship) has expressly recalled that the “ordinary” form of the celebration of the Mass is that envisaged by the Missal promulgated by Paul VI, while that “extraordinary” (form), which was permitted by by Pope Benedict XVI for the purposes and the modalities explained by him in the Motu Proprio “Summorum Ponticium,” must not take the place of the “ordinary” (form).

There are therefore no new liturgical directives beginning from next Advent, as someone has improperly deduced from some words of Cardinal Sarah, and it is better to avoid using the expression “the reform of the reform,” in referring to the liturgy, given that this has sometimes been the source of misunderstanding.

Significantly, the Vatican communique added that “all this was expressly agreed during a recent audience given by the pope to the said Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship.”

http://americamagazine.org/content/dispatches/vatican-denies-changes-celebration-mass

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Church in Asia mourns for Dhaka terror victims: Cardinal Gracias

July 8, 2016 at 11:04 am (SILENT VOICE)

Cardinal Oswald Gracias wanted religious leaders, governments and communities to work together for peace.

Posted on July 7, 2016, 10:18 PM

Vatican City:“As violence picks up its deadly pace, we can draw strength from God’s endless mercy. We are called to face these grave challenges with peaceful solidarity on the part of all people of good will,” said Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay and president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC).

Remembering the victims of the Dhaka massacre by Islamic terrorists, he said that the whole Church in Asia is mourning the attack, “which struck so close to the end of the Holy season of Ramadan.”

Stressing that most of Muslims live in Asia, particularly in the south and southeast, he added that, “together as brothers we must foster a spirit of brotherhood and solidarity.”

The cardinal’s message said, “We are living in a time of great dangers and great opportunities for humankind and the world, a time which is also of great responsibility for us all. It is essential and urgent that religious leaders, governments and communities work together to build bridges of peace and promote reconciliation.

“Dangerous forces and powers thrive on the empty hope that terror will blind us to our common humanity,” the message said. It urged all to pray and work for reconciliation, justice, peace and development.

The Cardinal added,“ As the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church in Asia, I assure you that the Church wants to continue building bridges of friendship with the followers of all religions in order to seek the true good of every person and of society as a whole.”

“May Christian-Muslim friendship inspire us always to cooperate in facing these many challenges, thus ensuring that religions can be a source of harmony for the benefit of society as a whole and for the human family,” the cardinal said in his message that extended Ramadan greetings to all Muslims.

Source: Vatican Radio

Dhaka ,Bangladeshi Minorities ,Bangladesh ,Terror Attack

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BOLT FROM THE BLUE: Divorce decrees by church courts not valid: SC;

July 5, 2016 at 5:05 pm (SILENT VOICE)

THIS IS THE BOLT OUT OF THE BLUE, FOR THE ONES WHO HAVE OBTAINED ANNULMENT FROM THE CHURCH TRIBUNALS, AND REMARRIED. WILL THE CHURCH AUTHORITIES (CBCI) ENLIGHTEN THE COMMUNITY?

GREG

Jul 05 2016 : The Times of India (Mumbai)

Divorce decrees by church courts not valid: SC

Dhananjay Mahapatra

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Monday said divorce decrees granted by ecclesiastical tribunals, popularly known among Christians as church courts, had no legal sanctity and anyone remarrying after such a divorce decree would be com mitting an offence.The observation came from Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice D Y Chandrachud while hearing a plea from Bengaluru’s octogenarian Catholic advocate Clarence Pais, who has sought legal sanctity for divorce decrees granted by church courts. He has pleaded that marriage and divorce among Catholic Christians were governed by the church and in the absence of its recognition by law, unsuspecting men were facing prosecution for bigamy. Additional solicitor general Neeraj Kishan Kaul said the SC, in the Molly Joseph vs George Sebastian case in 1996, had settled the issue and ruled that “unless Divorce Act recognizes the jurisdiction, authority or power of ecclesiastical tribunal, any order passed by a tribunal cannot be binding on courts which have been recognized under the provisions of the Divorce Act to exercise power in respect of granting divorce and adjudicating in respect of matrimonial matters“. After the bench went through the judgment, it told Pais’s counsel Soli J Sorabjee, “Unless a divorce decree is granted by a competent court, the decrees granted by church court are not valid. Any man who remarries after divorce decree granted by church court will be committing an offence.“

Finding the going tough, Sorabjee said he just wanted to request an adjournment for a detailed hearing later.Though the court was reluctant, it decided to accept the former attorney general’s request. The petitioner had said hundreds of applications seeking dissolution of marriage were pending before church courts. “The Christian Marriage Act provides for the solemnization of marriage in a Catholic church in accordance with the provisions of the canon law and declaration of its nullity is regulated by the Code of Canon Law,“ the petitioner argued. “If criminal courts, while considering prosecution under IPC Section 494 (bigamy), reject the application of canon law as the personal law of the Catholics, a very serious result will follow and hundreds of spouses who have married a second time will face prosecution, jail and fine. Canon law is the personal law of Catholics of India and it has to be applied and enforced by a criminal court while deciding a case under Section 494 of the IPC and sanction of prosecution considered for alleged bigamy of a Catholic spouse who has married after obtaining a decree for nullity of the first marriage from the ecclesiastical tribunal.“ he said.