Category: Religion

(RNS) — When Pope Francis announced Sunday (July 9) that he would be making 21 new cardinals, Vatican observers agreed that the aging pontiff, who has named more than two-thirds of the men who will vote for his successor, was aiming to solidify his legacy. But history shows that the College of Cardinals has its own mind when it comes to voting, a fact Francis, elected by three decades’ worth of conservative popes’ appointees, likely appreciates.

Instead, the new crop of cardinals may say more about Francis’ focus on a college built for reconciliation and overcoming divisions within the church.

These qualities will be crucial to the success of the summit of Catholic bishops and lay people that begins Oct. 4 in Rome, meant to address some of the most divisive issues in the church and in broader society: the inclusion of women and LGBTQ people. The consistory, the ceremony when the new cardinals will be made, will take place Sept. 30, only days before.

“Let’s be honest, we live in a very polarized society. It’s a difficult world today. People are separated by ideologies,” said Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Vatican’s representative in the United States and one of those who will be made a cardinal, in an interview Wednesday. “The mission of the church is especially to live in this society which is polarized and divided, but not to repeat the polarization but cure this society,” he said.

Rather than merely strengthening Francis’ hold on the church, Pierre said, he views his mission as a cardinal will be to hold the tension in the deeply divided U.S. church.

Certainly some of Francis’ new appointments are clearly designed to give weight to other recent appointments in the Vatican hierarchy. His decision to give a red hat to Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández, a longtime friend and fellow Argentine recently appointed to oversee the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, suggests that the pope wanted to further emphasize papal approval for Fernandez’s leadership.

The same can be said for the elevation of American-born Archbishop Robert Prevost, who heads the Vatican department overseeing bishops. The red hat for Archbishop José Cobo Cano, recently tapped to lead the Archdiocese of Madrid, is an important bit of housekeeping, giving Spanish-speaking cardinals a leading voice at a future conclave.

But there is an easily traceable thread of unity running through the resumes of many of the cardinals-to-be.

“For us in Southern Africa the church has a very important role to play in terms of healing relations,” Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town, South Africa, said in a Zoom Wednesday. Brislin said he views his appointment as a message for reconciliation born from the experiences of segregation and racism during his country’s long era of apartheid.

Brislin, formally at the head of the South African Bishops’ Conference, also pushed back against the idea that the next consistory is merely aimed at electing a like-minded successor to Pope Francis.

“It’s not all about looking out for his legacy,” Brislin said, adding that he believes the appointments are aimed at promoting a church that is close to the people. Unity can be achieved even through diversity, he said, underlining that “a lot can be done at the local level, without breaking obviously from the universal church.”

Diversity has been a theme of Francis’ cardinal appointments; he’s made 113 cardinals from 64 countries, including some that have never been home to a cardinal. He extended this record with the first cardinal from the Muslim-majority country of Malaysia, Bishop Sebastian Francis of Penang. Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla will become the first cardinal in the embattled African nation of South Sudan.

The spirit of reconciliation is also glimpsed in the appointments of the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who juggles Catholic relations in the troubled Holy Land, and Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, who heads the Vatican Dicastery for Eastern Churches and was papal nuncio to Ukraine until 2020.

Francis will also elevate Archbishop Luis José Rueda Aparicio of Bogotá, in Colombia, which has been decimated by a decades-long civil war. Commenting on his appointment, Rueda prayed for all Catholics in the country “to work together toward peace, life and reconciliation for all Colombians.”

The new cardinal appointment in Hong Kong, Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-Yan, approved under a controversial power sharing deal between the Chinese government and the Catholic community tied to Rome, has been active in promoting unity between the officially recognized Catholic Church in the country and the Catholic community tied to Rome.

“For Hong Kong, I hope the city can have more reconciliation,” Chow Sau-Yan told reporters on Monday.

As if to underline the theme for the new batch of cardinals, Francis decided to give the last red hat to 96-year-old Capuchin Friar Luis Dri, who spends his days offering confessions — officially known in the church as the sacrament of reconciliation — to the faithful at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Dri, though well beyond the eligible age to elect the next pontiff, showcases the priorities of this pontificate. As bishops and lay faithful prepare to gather in Rome for the Synod on Synodality, the capstone of Francis’ vision for the church, focusing on unity, reconciliation will get you much further than politics and ideologies.

Though the need for — and even the definition of — reconciliation varies widely from one new cardinal to the next, everywhere Francis appears to be sending a message that the spirit of unity will get the church further than playing politics or ideologies.

It’s a message that Pierre, as papal envoy to the U.S., says will take time. “I don’t know if I have managed to do it well until now, but I will certainly continue in my own mission,” he said. “So that even the bishops within themselves will become more and more aware that their role is to be a source of love and unity and not to be a source of polarization and culture wars.”

Pope Francis on July 9 named 21 new cardinals, including the Vatican’s ambassador to the U.S., Archbishop Christophe Pierre; American-born Archbishop Robert Prevost, who oversees the appointments of Catholic bishops worldwide; and the new head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández.

The pope made the announcement at the end of his weekly Sunday Angelus prayer from a window in the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square. Francis said he would install the new cardinals during a consistory at the Vatican on Sept. 30, saying these new cardinals represent the universality of the global church and the “inseparable link” between the pope and dioceses around the world.

During the past 10 years, Pope Francis has created 121 cardinals from 66 countries, 23 of which had never been represented in the College of Cardinals. His appointments include the first Scandinavian since the Reformation, the first from Goa since an episcopal see was established there in 1533, the first from Latin America’s indigenous peoples, and the first from India’s Dalit class.

As of now, two-thirds of the cardinal electors have been cardinals created by Francis. Francis has shifted membership in the College of Cardinals away from Europe, making it all but certain that the conclave to choose his successor will be the first where Europeans do not account for a majority of electors.

Of the 21 new cardinals, 18 are under the age of 80 and would be eligible to vote in a papal conclave. As of Sept. 30, with the new additions, the total number of eligible cardinal electors will be 137.

Among the new cardinal-designates are three Vatican officials: Prevost, Fernández and Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, 67, an Italian archbishop who in Nov. 22 was appointed as prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.

Following the 2022 consistory, 83 of the cardinal electors had been appointed by Francis, 38 by Pope Benedict XVI, and 11 by Pope John Paul II.  Each of Francis’ consistories has increased the number of cardinal electors from less than the set limit of 120 to a number higher than 120, as high as 132 in 2022, though never as high as the record 135 set by Pope John Paul II in 2001 and 2003.

As of the conclusion of the 2022 consistory, of the 83 cardinals appointed by Francis who would be eligible to participate as electors in a papal conclave, only 28 (34%) are European. Some 52% of the electors were Europeans at the 2013 conclave that elected Francis, but only 40% are Europeans as of August 2022.

The creation of the new cardinal electors by the 86-year-old Francis will put the total number of cardinal electors well above the limit of 120 set by Pope Paul VI in 1975. Both Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI also exceeded that number at various points during their papacies.

The September ceremony to create new cardinals, being held on the eve of the pope’s highly anticipated Synod of Bishops in October, will be Francis’ ninth consistory for the creation of new cardinals since his election as pontiff in March 2013. He last created new cardinals in August 2022.

Cardinals rank second only to the pope in the Church hierarchy and serve as his closest advisers. Due to their historical power and influence, they are still called the princes of the Church, although Francis has told them not to live like royalty and to be close to the poor.

Three of the new cardinals were recently named as heads of major Vatican departments, including Argentine Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez, head of the Vatican’s doctrinal department.

Another significant appointment was that of Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-Yan of Hong Kong. Chow is one of the major links to the Catholic Church in communist China, where the Vatican is trying to improve conditions for Catholics. The bishop visited Beijing in April.

Another is Archbishop Robert Francis Prevost, an American who was recently named head of the Vatican department that helps the pope choose new bishops, one of the most powerful posts in the Vatican.

In announcing their names, Francis said the appointment of cardinals from across the globe “expresses the universality of the Church that continues to announce the merciful love of God to all men of the Earth.”

Cardinals serve as advisers to the pontiff on matters of teaching and administration, including the Vatican’s scandal-plagued finances. But their most crucial duty is gathering in a secret conclave to elect the next pontiff.

The full list of new cardinal electors:

Archbishop Robert Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops;

Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti; prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches;

Archbishop Víctor Fernández; prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith;

Archbishop Emil Tscherrig, retired apostolic nuncio

Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States;

Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem;

Archbishop Stephen Brislin, Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa

Archbishop  Ángel Sixto, Archbishop of Córdoba, Argentina;

Archbishop Luis José Rueda Aparicio of Bogotá, Colombia;

Archbishop Grzegorz Ryś, Archbishop of Łódź, Poland;

Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla, Archbishop of Juba, South Sudan;

Archbishop José  Cobo Cano, Archbishop of Madrid;

Archbishop Protase Rugambwa, coadjutor Archbishop of Tabora, Tanzania;

Bishop Sebastian Francis of Penang, Malaysia;

Bishop Stephen Chow, Bishop of Hong Kong;

Bishop François-Xavier Bustillo, bishop of Ajaccio, France;

Bishop Américo Manuel Alves Aguiar, auxiliary bishop of Lisbon, Portugal;

Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime, Superior General of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

(AP) — Pope Francis and a leading Sunni imam made calls for peace as the U.N. Security Council met Wednesday to discuss the importance of “human fraternity” and condemn the hatreds that kindle conflicts.

The pope, who is in hospital recovering from abdominal surgery, sent a statement saying that a third world war is being fought “piecemeal” and with the potentially catastrophic effects of nuclear weapons “the time has come to say an emphatic ‘no’ to war.”

Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, the 1,000-year-old seat of Sunni learning in Cairo, said in a virtual briefing that human fraternity was the key to global peace, a point he and the pope had made in a joint document released in 2019.

The United Arab Emirates chose the importance of human fraternity in bringing peace as a centerpiece of its presidency of the council this month. After the appeals by the pope and grand imam and council speeches, members adopted a resolution recognizing that hate speech, racism, xenophobia, intolerance, gender discrimination and acts of extremism “can contribute to driving the outbreak, escalation and recurrence of conflict.”

The resolution, co-sponsored by the UAE and the United Kingdom, urges all countries and organizations to condemn these acts and work to prevent them. It was adopted unanimously even though some of the council’s 15 members have been accused of some of the same actions they are condemning.

UAE Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh told The Associated Press after the vote that it was a “landmark” resolution that for the first time brings together previous council resolutions addressing hate speech, racism, incitement and extremism in different ways. She said it promotes tolerance, equality, coexistence and dialogue.

Pope Francis lamented that the world is going backward from the dream when the United Nations was founded in 1945 on the ashes of two world wars that countries would move toward a more stable peace and “become at last a family of nations.”

Instead, he said, the world is seeing “the rise of myopic, extremist, resentful and aggressive nationalisms that have kindled conflicts which are not only anachronistic and outdated but even more violent.”

The pope warned of the dangers of the arms race, which he said was driven by a desire for profits from arms sales.

“It takes more courage to renounce easy profits for the sake of keeping peace than to sell ever more sophisticated and powerful weapons,” he said.

And he said the potential of a nuclear catastrophe means it’s time to seek lasting peace — not built on ”the precarious balance of deterrence” but on “the fraternity that unites us.”

Francis has gone further than any pope before him by saying that not only the use but the mere possession of atomic weapons is immoral.

Prior to that, the Catholic Church had held for three decades that nuclear deterrence could be morally acceptable as long as it was used toward mutual, verifiable nuclear disarmament. The Holy See, however, has seen that the deterrence doctrine has essentially resulted in a nuclear status quo, with arms control treaties collapsing, leading to Francis’ change in church teaching.

Al-Tayeb said his intention in speaking to the council was to urge an end to senseless wars. He cited Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and Yemen, and the need for the council to recognize an independent Palestinian state after 75 years.

Without naming either Russia or Ukraine, he said the war unfolding on the eastern borders of Europe has instilled terror and “concern that it may regress humanity to a primitive era.”

The grand Imam said the mission pursued by Al-Azhar and the Roman Catholic Church in the 2019 document on human fraternity for world peace must be pursued by political leaders.

“Our gathering today is not a luxury but a necessity, dictated by concern for the future of humanity,” Al-Tayeb said.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the declaration by the pope and the grand imam “a model for compassion and human solidarity” and urged countries and people everywhere “to stand together as one human family” and forge “an alliance of peace, rooted in the values of human fraternity.”

Japan’s religious landscape is undergoing a significant transformation due to the increasing number of mosques that have emerged in the country over the past two decades. The change can primarily be attributed to the rising number of immigrants coming from Islamic states. The number of Muslims in Japan has increased tenfold in less than one generation, with current estimates of over 200,000. Mosques that were once rare sights in Japan are now commonplace, with 113 mosques recorded in the country as of March 2021, up from only 15 in 1999.

However, this trend presents challenges and friction in the Japanese society. While it reflects a more inclusive society, it also highlights the need for tolerance and acceptance of different beliefs. A recent incident involving a man from Gambia who vandalized a Japanese shrine and confronted a woman mid-prayer has sparked concerns among Japanese social media users. “Maintaining unwavering beliefs can sometimes blind us to our surroundings and lead to inflexible thinking. It can make us resistant to accepting other perspectives, leading to friction. Islam serves as a prominent illustration of this phenomenon,” said one comment.

Another social media user remarked that “those who attack the beliefs of others cannot share our values, so we cannot live together. The existence of such a dangerous Muslim person endangers also the living environment of all Muslims.” This statement exemplifies the fear that some Japanese citizens feel towards Muslims due to the actions of a few. It also highlights the need for more education and understanding of different beliefs to promote peaceful coexistence in a diverse society.

Islam and Shinto are two distinct religious traditions with unique beliefs and practices. While both religions offer guidance and spiritual meaning to their followers, they differ significantly in their origins and core beliefs. Islam originated in the 7th century as a monotheistic religion centered on the belief in one God, Allah, and the teachings of the Quran, considered the holy book of Islam.

In contrast, Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan, with roots that trace back to ancient times. It developed organically from Japanese folklore, rituals, and animistic beliefs. Shinto does not have a specific founder or a single authoritative scripture but is characterized by reverence for kami, the divine spirits or forces present in nature and various aspects of life. Shinto emphasizes purity, gratitude, and living in harmony with the natural world.

One notable aspect of Shinto is its inclination to embrace other religions. Shinto considers itself a religion encompassing eight million gods and often coexists with Buddhism. This inclusiveness is exemplified by the presence of the iconic torii inside many Buddhist temples. However, the concept of polytheism in Shinto is incompatible with the monotheistic nature of Islam. Islamic teachings emphasize the oneness of God and strictly prohibit the worship of any other entities, leading to potential clashes of faiths and divergent theological perspectives that make peaceful coexistence between the two religions challenging.

The rise of Islam in Japan also highlights the need for Muslims to adhere to the cultural norms and traditions of the country they reside in. The incident of the Gambia man vandalizing the Shinto shrine and confronting a woman in mid-prayer showcases the need for education and understanding of different beliefs. Respect for others’ beliefs and practices is crucial in a diverse society, and any behavior that endangers the peace and harmony of the community must be dealt with accordingly.

In conclusion, the emergence of Islam in Japan reflects a more inclusive society but also presents challenges and friction. A peaceful coexistence between different religions necessitates understanding, education, and respect for others’ beliefs and traditions. While the rise of Islam in Japan highlights the need for tolerance, it also emphasizes the importance of cultural norms and traditions to maintain peace and harmony in a diverse society.

As Mother’s Day approaches, numerous organizations will host special events or services to commemorate the occasion. Mother’s Day was first established in 1908 at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in West Virginia and gained national recognition in the United States in 1914. The holiday’s mid-May timing has become popular worldwide, although various countries continue to observe their own dates and customs.

Religions across the globe utilize these occasions to acknowledge the significance of diverse forms of nurturing, ranging from traditional celebrations to events that recognize modern parenting, fertility challenges, or the grief of losing a child. However, motherhood and nurturing are not solely honored on specific days. Many religious traditions incorporate goddess-centered practices that regard multiple aspects of the divine feminine as central to their belief systems.

As a professor of religious studies who travels with students to explore different cultures and practices worldwide, I’ve frequently observed their fascination with the diverse goddess traditions we come across.

Asian Traditions

Guan Yin, known by several name variations, is venerated as the goddess of compassion and mercy in numerous Eastern traditions. Interestingly, she originated as a male bodhisattva named Avalokiteshvara before being adapted into a goddess figure in various cultures worldwide. Referred to as Kannon in Japan and Quan Am in Vietnam, she is often the center of temple worship and is considered the protector of sailors and a goddess of fertility.

In Hinduism, one of the most famous yet frequently misunderstood goddesses is Kali. Often perceived as a frightening figure, she is depicted wielding multiple weapons and adorned with garments made from severed heads and arms. However, Kali also embodies a vital motherly role, channeling her fierceness into nurturing and defending all creation. As a manifestation of Shakti’s primal force, Kali essentially encompasses all facets of motherhood, often displaying simultaneous care, love, and ferocity.

The Triple Goddess

Neopaganism, a collective term for various new religious movements prevalent in the United States, Australia, and Europe, often features goddess figures as central figures. Neopaganism’s multiple branches include Wicca and Hellenic reconstructionism, which focuses on the gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece.

The triple goddess, representing the three aspects of maiden, mother, and crone, holds significant importance for many Neopagans. Sometimes, these goddess figures are based on specific ancient deities like Persephone, Demeter, and Hekate, while other times they are worshiped more broadly as symbols of different life stages.

In recent years, these traditions have been deliberately evolving to challenge notions of gender essentialism and embrace a variety of identities. For some Neopagans, examining the meanings of femininity and masculinity in today’s society is a crucial aspect of their religious beliefs and a way to include individuals who have felt excluded from other religious communities.

Goddess-The Beyond

Numerous other religions hold mother figures in high esteem, even if they are not worshiped or regarded as goddesses. Khadija, Prophet Muhammad’s wife and the first convert to Islam, bears the title “Mother of the Believers,” reflecting her significance in shaping the religion. Devotion to Mary, Jesus’ mother, has been widespread throughout Christianity’s history and continues to be popular today. In Judaism, the concept of “Shekinah” has had a profound impact on some feminist thought. Instead of representing a single woman or female figure, Shekinah is viewed as the feminine aspect of the divine, embodying God’s wisdom on Earth.

Nurturing and compassion are central themes across various religions, whether represented by specific goddess figures, feminine archetypes, or new religious developments that embrace evolving notions of gender.

The Pope will for the first time allow women to vote at an influential global meeting of bishops in October – a move that has been welcomed as a historic first.

The new rules announced on Wednesday will give five religious sisters voting rights at the synod, which is a papal advisory body.

In the past, women were only allowed to attend the gathering as auditors.

Men will still cast the majority of the votes at the influential gathering.

Nevertheless, the reforms are seen as a significant shift for the Roman Catholic Church, which has been male-dominated for centuries.

The US-based Women’s Ordination Conference, which advocates for women priests, has called the reform “a significant crack in the stained glass ceiling”.

“For years Vatican representatives and bishops resisted, moving the goalpost with every synod as to why women were not allowed to vote,” the group wrote on Twitter. “The unspoken reason was always sexism.”

“In the near future, we hope that the synod continues to develop into a fully representative body of the people of God.”

In a further break with tradition, Pope Francis announced that voting rights would also be extended to 70 hand-picked non-clerical members of the religious community, moving the synod away from being a meeting solely of the Church hierarchy.

The Pope, who has championed reform, has said that he hopes half of these will be women and there has also been an emphasis on including young people.

“It’s an important change, it’s not a revolution,” said Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, a top organizer of the synod.

Christopher Lamb, Vatican correspondent for the Catholic news publication The Tablet, told BBC World Service’s Newshour programme that the changes were “highly significant” and an attempt by the Pope to make decisions about the Church’s future more inclusive.

He added that the reforms concerning women reflected an “unprecedented” dialogue over the issue of female representation that had been happening for some time.

But Mr Lamb predicted the Pope would face “significant resistance” from some parts of the Church over this latest decision.

(RNS) — Is a belief in God a prerequisite for being a moral person? Most Americans say it is not, and majorities of adults in other countries with advanced economies agree.

Pew Research Center released the findings — that also hold true among most of those affiliated with a religion — from its Global Attitudes Survey on Thursday (April 20).

“Even among people who are religiously affiliated, most do not think it is necessary to believe in God to have good values,” states the new report on questions asked in the spring of 2022. “In most countries surveyed, half or more of people who say they belong to a religion also say it is not necessary to believe in God to be moral.”

“Even among those affiliated with a religion, most say it’s not necessary to believe in God to be moral” Graphic courtesy of Pew Research Center

In the U.S., 56% of the religiously affiliated said morality and good values do not have to be linked with a belief in God. Globally, countries with the highest percentages of religiously affiliated people agreeing with that statement included Sweden (86%) and Australia (75%).

But differences are more striking in some countries whose general populations were surveyed.

While at least 60% of Europeans and North Americans do not say belief in God and morality must be linked, Israelis are more split on that, with 50% agreeing and 47% saying such a belief is essential. About one-fifth of Malaysians say people can be moral without a belief in God, while more than three-quarters disagree with that view.

Based on research in 16 countries beyond the U.S., a median of about two-thirds of adults say people can be moral without a belief in God, a bit higher than the U.S. share.

Across the globe, there are different views depending on religious and political affiliation.

In the U.S., about 9 in 10 who say religion is not at all important or not too important to them believe morality and belief in God do not need to be linked, but just half of those who think it is somewhat or very important to them agree.

“Most Americans say it’s not necessary to believe in God to be moral, but views differ by religion” Graphic courtesy of Pew Research Center

Black Protestants (39%) and white evangelicals (42%) were least likely among Americans to say it’s not essential to believe in God to be moral, while the religiously unaffiliated (88%) were the group most in agreement with that stance.

Democrats and those who lean Democratic are more likely than their Republican counterparts to say it is not essential to believe in God to be moral (71% compared with 59%). Americans younger than 50 and older adults reflect a similar difference in response.

“In nearly every country where political ideology is measured, people who place themselves on the political left are more likely than those on the political right to say that belief in God is not necessary to have good values,” the report states.

“In addition, younger adults in about half of the countries surveyed are significantly more likely than older respondents to say that a belief in God is not connected with morality.”

More than 4 in 5 Greek adults younger than 30, for instance, unlink morality from a belief in God, in contrast with half of Greek adults who are 50 and older (84% compared with 51%). Substantial age differences also occur in Canada, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

Although the new report focused on countries with advanced economies, 2019 Pew research found that, among 34 nations, including some with developing or emerging economies, higher shares of people in nations with lower gross domestic products said believing in God was crucial for morality.

The new report’s findings were based on a survey of 3,581 U.S. adults from March 21-27, 2022, who took part in an online survey panel, with an overall margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points. Outside the U.S., the report relied on nationally representative surveys of an overall total of 18,782 adults from Feb. 14-June 3, 2022. In some countries the surveys were completed by phone and in others by face-to-face interviews or an online panel. The margin of error ranged from plus or minus 2.8 percentage points in Australia to plus or minus 4.5 percentage points in Hungary.

“Nothing like it has ever been seen before, but it was captured accidentally by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope,” NASA said.

American space agency NASA has warned that there is an “invisible monster on the loose”, in the form of a “runaway” black hole. According to a press release, the supermassive black hole is barrelling through the universe so quickly that if it were in our solar system, it could travel from Earth to the moon in just 14 minutes. It weighs as much as 12 million Suns and has left a never-before-seen trail of stars, measuring 200,000 light years, which is twice the diameter of the Milky Way.

“There’s an invisible monster on the loose, barreling through intergalactic space so fast that if it were in our solar system, it could travel from Earth to the Moon in 14 minutes,” NASA said in its press note.

“This supermassive black hole, weighing as much as 20 million Suns, has left behind a never-before-seen 200,000-light-year-long “contrail” of newborn stars, twice the diameter of our Milky Way galaxy. It’s likely the result of a rare, bizarre game of galactic billiards among three massive black holes,” the space agency added.

NASA explained that the black hole is pushing into gas in front of it to create the new star formation in a narrow corridor rather than eating up the stars ahead of it. It is assumed that the trail created a lot of new stars since it is almost half as bright as its host galaxy. “Nothing like it has ever been seen before, but it was captured accidentally by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope,” the space agency said.

The “invisible monster” is located at the end of the column of its parent galaxy, with a “remarkably bright knot” of ionised oxygen at the outermost tip. NASA scientists believe that either gas is being shocked and heated from the motion of the black hole or an accretion disk around the black hole is causing radiation.

“Gas in front of it gets shocked because of this supersonic, very high-velocity impact of the black hole moving through the gas. How it works exactly is not really known,” said Pieter van Dokkum of Yale University, as per the press note. “This is pure serendipity that we stumbled across it,” he added.

Mr Dokkum said that he was actually looking for globular star clusters in a nearby dwarf galaxy when he spotted the black hole. He described the trail of stars as “quite astonishing, very, very bright and very unusual”.

In order to figure out exactly what this bizarre image they were seeing was, Mr Dokkum and his team did a follow-up spectroscopy with the W. M. Keck Observatories in Hawaii, where they ultimately concluded they were seeing the aftermath of a black hole speeding through the galaxy.

According to NASA astronomers, the black hole was set free after two galaxies merged about 50 million years ago – which brought together two supermassive black holes at their centres. Then a third galaxy came with its one supermassive black hole, and three combined to form a “chaotic and unstable configuration”.

Researchers believe one of the black holes gained momentum from the other two and escaped out of its host galaxy, while the other two took off in the opposite direction.

Post a comment Now, scientists said that the next step is to confirm the explanation behind the black hole using the James Webb Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory for follow-up observations.

Three major religious holidays coincide this week. As the Islamic holy month of Ramadan reaches its halfway point, Jews begin celebrating Passover at sundown tonight, and Sunday marks Easter for many Christians around the world.

In the U.S., most Muslims (80%) mark Ramadan by fasting, most Jews (62%) attend a Seder at the beginning of Passover, and most Christians (62%) say they normally attend Easter services (although attendance has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic), according to various Pew Research Center surveys in recent years.

A religious knowledge survey conducted in 2019 also found that most U.S. adults overall know that Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus (81%) and that Ramadan is an Islamic holy month (60%).

On Friday, Jewish people celebrate Passover to mark the exodus of Israelites from enslavement in Egypt. On the same day, Christians observe Good Friday to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus before celebrating Easter Sunday when he rose from the dead. Over the weekend, Muslims will continue observing Ramadan, a month of prayers and fasting to memorialize the transmission of the Koran.

The overlap of the three observances occurs about every 33 years, according to Lees McCrae College. Religious groups and others use the rare occasion to call for harmony between the traditions.

The coincidence is so uncommon because the three observances are based on different calendars and factors that determine when the holidays occur. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox. Good Friday marks the crucifixion of Jesus, God’s messiah, under the Roman governor of Judea to atone for humanity’s sins.

Passover occurs in the middle of Nisan, a month in the Hebrew calendar, on the first full moon, putting it in proximity to Easter. The holiday begins at sundown and includes seder, a special meal meant to remind Jewish people of the hardship they endured in Egypt.

Ramadan is Islam’s holiest month using the lunar calendar. Because the calendar follows the cycles of the moon, unlike the Gregorian calendar commonly used in the West, Ramadan falls on different times each year.

During Ramadan, Muslims believe God revealed the sacred text of the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad, the first verses of which were passed down on “The Night of Power” (Laylat al-Qadr in Arabic). Muslims abstain from food or drink from dawn to sunset for the entire month and are encouraged to contemplate their relationship with God.

With roots dating back to the 1800s, April is Sikh Heritage Month — a time to celebrate and honour the rich history and culture of Canada’s Sikh community.

“With 800,000 Sikhs calling Canada home, we have the largest Sikh diaspora, with roots of the first Sikh in Canada dating back to the 1800s,” said Punjab-origin Member of Parliament (MP) from Brampton West, Kamal Khera.

At 26, Khera was the youngest to have won in the elections in Canada in 2015. She represents Canada’s ruling Liberal party.

“As a Sikh, I am proud of the contributions and achievements of our community!” she tweeted.

In one of her visits to Punjab, she said: “My counterpart in India is always with heavy security, I move freely.”

Proud of vibrant Sikh community, Sonia Sidhu, MP from Brampton South, tweeted, “April 1 marks the beginning of Sikh Heritage Month in Canada and as Canadians, we are proud of our country’s strong and vibrant Sikh community.”

“This month, let’s continue to learn about Sikh Heritage in Canada.”

Mayor of Brampton, Patrick Brown, said this year “we celebrate 10 years of Sikh Heritage Month in Ontario”.

Among many of the events listed, he said he would also be hosting a special event to award Gurbax Singh Malhi the key to the Brampton city on April 18.

As a mark of respect for Canada making it the second largest Sikh population in the world, the Mississauga Civic Centre clock tower was lighted with orange, part of the city’s Community Recognition Programme.

Learning the faith of the Sikhs, another MP Francesco Sorbara said, “During this month we recognise the contributions to our country by the more than 800,000 Canadians of Sikh heritage, learn about their faith and rich history.”

Randeep Sarai, Member of Parliament for Surrey Centre, said, “This month, I encourage you all to take this opportunity to learn more about the Sikh faith!”

India-origin Minister of National Defence, Anita Anand, said Sikh Heritage Month “is a time to recognise the many contributions of the Sikh community across Canada. Today, I joined members of the Oakville and Halton Sikh community at the flag raising at Oakville Town Hall”.

“This is an opportunity for Ontarians to come together to learn more about the Sikh faith and celebrate the many ways Sikh Ontarians help build a stronger and better Ontario,” said Ontario’s Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, Michael Ford.

MP for Vancouver South, Harjit Sajjan, said, “Learn about how the Sikh values of equality and ‘seva’ (selfless service) are reflected in what we as Canadians strive toward.”

Another Punjab-origin Aman Singh, MLA for Richmond-Queensborough, added, “On behalf of our British Columbia New Democratic Party government, our caucus and colleagues at your opening gala for Sikh Heritage Month. I know there are many events planned throughout the month.”

According to Sikh Heritage British Columbia, its philosophy is providing a space where the Sikh community can connect with each other and with neighbouring communities to help each other prosper, learn and grow.

Its promise is, “Create a space where Sikhs and non-Sikhs can come together to create connections and relationships for prosperity.” (IANS)

(RNS) — With no time even to wash her clothes as the Russians approached Mariupol a year ago, in southern Ukraine, Kalakeli Devi Dasi fled her native city with only a small suitcase filled with her dirty laundry. She also took with her a letter she was unable to deliver to her mother before Kalakeli and her friends joined a large convoy of cars heading southwest to the city of Berdyansk.

“It was very scary and we did not know what to expect,” said Kalakeli of the escape. “We saw much destruction. I saw burnt and torn bodies. It was a terrible and frightening sight. … We kept chanting the holy names of the Lord the whole way.”

Kalakeli is one of an estimated 15,000 Hare Krishnas who call Ukraine home, many of whom have continued their daily practice and serve their neighbors, even as several of their roughly 30 ISKCON temples have been damaged or destroyed and their communities scattered.

The Hare Krishna movement, whose formal name is the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON, has been active in Eastern Europe since 1971, when ISKCON’s founder, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, traveled to the Soviet Union in the company of Shyamsundar Das, a close friend of Beatle George Harrison.

Prabhupada arrived in New York in 1965 from Calcutta to spread in the West faith in the Hindu deity Lord Krishna. Related to the nearly 500-year-old Krishna consciousness movement in India, ISKCON is a monotheistic tradition within Hinduism whose main spiritual text is the Bhagavad Gita. Its adherents practice vegetarianism and meditation, Bhakti yoga and public chanting of Krishna’s names, and in the U.S. it is best known for its groups of saffron-clad devotees chanting mantras in public spaces or passing out literature on the street.

Having planted the seeds of ISKCON in the U.S., Prabhupada went to the Soviet Union in 1971 to teach the faith. From there, the theology spread underground by word of mouth, despite the Communist Party’s anti-religious agenda, eventually finding its way to Ukraine.

Other Hare Krishnas from abroad followed Prabhupada to continue to nurture the movement in the former Soviet Union. One of them, Niranjana Swami, a convert to ISKCON from Massachusetts, entered the U.S.S.R. under the guise of a tourist in the late 1980s but broke away from his tour at night to lecture in small, packed apartments, teaching as many as 100 people on an evening.

“I felt these people were so sincerely looking for God, because it had been suppressed in their lives for so long by the regime, that I felt the regime actually did much to expand God consciousness,” said Niranjana Swami. “Anything beyond the party line was, to them, seen as a potential message from the divine.”

He was in Russia when the Soviet Union collapsed. “I happened to be in Moscow when Yeltsin was standing on the tanks around the parliament building.”

Now 70 and a governing body commissioner for ISKCON, Niranjana Swami oversees communities in Moldova, Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine, traveling widely and visiting Ukraine when he can.

When the war broke out in Ukraine in 2022, local devotees turned to Niranjana Swami for support and guidance, and he began lecturing via Zoom. His collection of lectures about the war were recently compiled and published in a book titled, “Krishna Protects His Devotees.”

Niranjana Swami also helped mobilize the worldwide ISKCON community to raise thousands of dollars for those suffering from the effects of the war. Share Your Care, based in Kyiv, aims to help Hare Krishnas and their families relocate from conflict zones, supplement their loss of income and distribute food. Since the war began, an estimated 2 million plates of food have been distributed by ISKCON to Ukrainians in need.

The war has claimed the lives of at least five Hare Krishna devotees, and devastation in Kramatorsk and Bakhmut has cost the local communities its temples. In the face of this violence, deities have been relocated while larger temple rooms have been closed and their basements converted into bomb shelters.

Temple services and programs have resumed in cities in safer locales, while on the streets of Kyiv and other cities west of there, public chanting and book distribution have also resumed.

Much of this activity is overseen by Acyuta Priya, ISKCON’s zonal supervisor for Ukraine. Born to a staunchly Communist family when Ukraine was still a Soviet state, he joined the underground movement in 1980. “Of course I hated the Communist regime, because it wasn’t allowing me to dedicate my life to God,” he said.

The war has ended his normally itinerant existence; he is currently staying in a contact’s basement sauna in Chernivtsi, though he travels to various cities when possible. According to Acyuta Priya, 71 of the nearly 100 Hare Krishna community groups are still operating, serving Hare Krishnas and their neighbors. He said they continue to see new people joining the movement.

“People just come, they want to help and they have this volunteer spirit,” said Acyuta Priya. “I will tell you honestly, I am native Ukrainian, here from my birth, and I have never seen people be so united. It was unexpected for me.”

He attributes the Hare Krishnas’ resilience to their faith. “You have to understand that the Lord controls everything, and we need to see this war as an opportunity to raise up and to grow, and to grow mostly by giving and not just be in survival mode… There is a need to dedicate yourself to a higher cause, and it should be practical, not just theoretical,” said Acyuta Priya.

But some, like Kalakeli, have found homes outside the country. She moved frequently during the early weeks of the invasion, moving from Berdyansk to Zaporizhia, then to Dnipro, before finally leaving Ukraine and finding shelter with a community of fellow devotees in Denmark.

For nearly two months, Kalakeli was unable to contact or locate her mother, sister and nephews back in Mariupol.

“My life became just an existence. Only ‘kirtan’ (devotional singing) dulled my pain for a while,” said Kalakeli. “Totally desperate, I began to have thoughts of going back and looking for my family.”

In April of last year, she was finally able to connect with her family via phone. They had all managed to stay safe back in Mariupol, but their home was destroyed in the war. They recently joined Kalakeli in Copenhagen.

“The war taught us a lot,” said Kalakeli. “The main thing I have learned is that no one can take God away from me. In such difficult situations, there was nothing else we could do but trust in Krishna. Love for God will end all wars.”

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has named an eight-year-old US-born Mongolian boy as the reincarnation of a spiritual leader.

He has been recognised as the reincarnation of the third most important leader in Tibetan Buddhism as the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche.

The elderly spiritual leader was pictured with the boy during a ceremony recognising him as the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche. The ceremony took place earlier this month in Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama (87) lives in exile.

“We have the reincarnation of Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche of Mongolia with us today,” the Dalai Lama said during the ceremony which was attended by 5,000 monks and nuns, 600 Mongolians and other members.

Pointing to the small boy sitting to his left, the Dalai Lama told the gathering, “We have the reincarnation of Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche of Mongolia with us today. His predecessors had a close association with the Krishnacharya lineage of Chakrasamvara. One of them established a monastery in Mongolia dedicated to its practice. So, his being here today is quite auspicious.”

As the session came to a close on that day, the Dalai Lama met briefly with a significant contingent of Mongolians who are the patrons of this teaching.

“Tantra spread widely in Tibet. With regard to Chakrasamvara, the Ghantapada and Luipa traditions were popular, but this Krishnacharya lineage was quite rare. I received it from Tagdrag Rinpoche and have long felt a close affinity for the practice.

“Chakrasamvara is classified as a mother tantra. It belongs to the highest yoga tantras. While Guhyasamaja emphasises the illusory body, Chakrasamvara focuses on the clear light. However, if you make the illusory body your primary practice, the clear light also arises.

“As I said, I feel a close affinity to the Krishnacharya tradition. I have received the empowerment and undertaken the requisite retreat. This may seem somewhat boastful, but I also feel I have some connection with the great Mahasiddha Krishnacharya.

“This empowerment requires the preliminary practices that we’ll do today. I’ve done the self-generation and visualised myself as Chakrasamvara.”

The crowd dispersed and the view in every direction was filled with the upstanding stems of kusha grass the initiates held in their hands, said a post on the official website of the Dalai Lama. (IANS)

Pope Francis met privately with international media expert Swami Vijay Kumar Durai at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican last week. During the meeting, the Pope advised Durai not to indulge in fake news and to determine the accuracy and legitimacy of the same.

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An openly gay advisor to the Vatican says he’s not surprised by Pope Francis’ declaration that “being homosexual isn’t a crime.”

Juan Carlos Cruz, an internationally known Chilean advocate and survivor of clerical sexual abuse, told NPR the pope’s remarks made for an “incredible day.”

In his first interview since the death of former Pope Benedict XVI, Francis told the Associated Press that laws criminalizing homosexuality are “unjust” and that Catholic bishops should apply “tenderness” and help ease discrimination by welcoming LGBTQ people into the church.

On Tuesday, Cruz told Morning Edition’s Leila Fadel that anti-sodomy laws in dozens of countries, including some that impose the death penalty, are “horrifying,” but the pope’s moral leadership will help civil authorities, bishops, and cardinals to “change their heart” and join the pontiff in speaking out.

“The pope highlights that the LGBTQ community is not sinful and criminal,” said Cruz.

Cruz, who is a member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, also dissents from Catholic teachings. Cruz says the church’s insistence that homosexuality is “sin,” a position embraced by the pope, is “shameful,” although Cruz says the pope appears to be trying to shift the church’s relationship with the LGBTQ community.

Interview highlights

On the impact of the pope’s message on LGBTQ criminalization

It’s been an incredible day with his statement, something that no pope has ever done in history. He’s taken great steps and they’re sincere and that I appreciate. In a moment where the LGBT community all over the world needs it because it’s being attacked, condemned, there’s laws that criminalize it.

This man does change and does acknowledge when he has made a mistake and he said it publicly. And I admire that in him. I mean, there’s a lot a lot still to do in terms of abuse in the church. By no means we’re done.

It doesn’t surprise me from Pope Francis. He’s a man that is open to everybody, who holds the dignity of the person in the highest standards. The LGBT community is very in his heart. I would not say this if I didn’t know it. I know this for a fact, and that makes me very happy.

On how Cruz has seen Pope Francis’ view change over the last decade

The pope that I knew and that I saw in 2017 versus the pope that that I met, and after a few meetings in 2018, it’s 180 degree difference. It’s surprising. You know, we normally say older people, you know, it’s hard to change their views or change.

This man does change and does acknowledge when he has made a mistake and he said it publicly. And I admire that in him. I mean, there’s a lot a lot still to do in terms of abuse in the church. By no means we’re done.

On the pope’s initiative to shift the church’s relationship with the LGBTQ community

The pope highlights that the LGBTQ community is not sinful and criminal. And he says harming one’s neighbor is most certainly both. So it’s the bedrock of Catholic teaching. And he shifts this, you know, wording, like you said it, Leila, but he highlights how important it is that it’s more sinful, you know, having things against your neighbor or being uncharitable, or criminal towards the gay community, that’s sinful.

(RNS) — As the Catholic Synod on Synodality enters its “continental phase,” some have wondered if the church is moving toward Vatican Three.   Of course, there are still fights going on about Vatican Two.

Not long ago, Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod, said the current synod would lead “to a new reception of the Second Vatican Council,” allowing the reforms of the mid-1960s to finally take hold. A small but vocal cadre of Catholics fears that precise possibility, which they caricature as a church overrun with bad liturgy, bad moral theology and guitar music.

Lately these so-called traditionalists have lost two beacons of their truths. The recent deaths of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Australian Cardinal George Pell may serve to deflate the anti-synod underground, or at least weaken its intellectual base.

Benedict, a quintessential Vatican insider and brilliant theologian, was the architect of every notice and ruling against real participation by lay persons — an explicit goal of the synod — and especially by women. Some 40 years ago, as prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, he convinced the committee revising the Code of Canon Law to keep governance and ministry within the clerical caste.

Before then and since, he was behind every statement against the ordination of women, first as priests, then as deacons. With no means other than a passive-aggressive approach, he ensured the question of restoring women to the ordained diaconate remained unanswered.

In 1997, Benedict, still Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, refused to sign a 1997 International Theological Commission document allowing for women deacons and instead put then-professor-now-Cardinal Gerhard L. Mueller to the task of rewriting crucial passages, allowing John Paul II and later Benedict to ignore the issue.

Benedict’s good friend Pell made enemies in Rome while attempting to reconcile Vatican finances as prefect for the economy. (His term lapsed in 2019, while convicted on abuse charges overturned in 2020.) A former archbishop of Sydney, Pell was behind the scenes when the Australian bishops turned down the recommendation to make women deacons in August 2022, though it was later adopted. Pell is also said to be “Demos” (“people”), author of a memo to cardinals calling the pontificate of Pope Francis “a disaster.”

Pell, or at least the anonymous “Demos,” blames the synod process itself for the church’s ills, while acknowledging secularization and Western influences. The main problems: “We are weaker than 50 years ago and many factors are beyond our control, in the short term at least, e.g. the decline in the number of believers, the frequency of Mass attendance, the demise or extinction of many religious orders.”

Therein lies the rub. The factors noted have causes. Some argue there are two main streams of blame for the decline: the culture and the church itself. A more likely reason is that the changing culture exposed the facts and foibles of the church. Few if any Catholics in ethnic city neighborhoods or suburbia are willing to pray, pay and obey as they once did.

To a significant extent, it matters not whether they are so-called traditionalists or progressives. More Catholics in more cultures are better educated and less willing to put up with autocratic clerics, especially amid ongoing — even increasing — sex and money scandals.

That is where the Synod on Synodality, which presents all people with an opportunity to consider the church as church, is lancing boils the most conservative clerics have only bandaged over.

The broadest brush paints traditionalists in conservative shades of political reds. That same brush paints progressives in liberal blues. But red and blue Catholics are walking away in equal numbers, often led by the women of their families who have had enough. Neither Benedict nor Pell, with or without Latin, lace and incense, could stem the tide. But neither will Francis, alone, be able to push it back.

If truth be told, the women of the church are leading its reform. Only they can lead its rebirth.

(Phyllis Zagano is senior research associate-in-residence and adjunct professor of religion at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. Her recent books include “Elizabeth Visits the Abbey.” The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)

Church membership, church attendance and belief in God all declined during the pandemic years, survey data suggest, accelerating decadeslong trends away from organized worship.

At least one-fifth of Americans today embrace no religion at all. Researchers call them “nones.”

A similar share tell pollsters they do not believe in God, an all-time high.

The lone, striking countertrend is a steep rise in nondenominational Protestants, who attend churches outside the “mainline” denominations — the once-ubiquitous Baptists, Methodists and Lutherans.

Nondenominational Protestants — “nons” — became a majority in 2021, signaling a new era of churches and clergies untethered from religious tradition.

In-person church attendance plummeted by 45 percent in the pandemic, according to an ABC News analysis. Most churches have reopened, but not all congregants have returned.

“People are not getting together much, generally speaking. Not just in church, but in the village,” said Thomas Groome, a professor in theology and religious education at Boston College. “People are staying home. They’re on their cellphones. They’re on the Internet.”

The share of Americans who belong to churches dipped below half in 2020, a historic low, according to Gallup polling.

Church membership held steady at around 70 percent of the U.S. population from the 1940s through the 1990s. Membership plummeted in the new millennium.

The decline is largely driven by a surging population of “nones,” or Americans who claim no religion, at 21 percent, as of 2021, according to Gallup.

It’s tempting, if not entirely accurate, to conflate “nones” with nonbelievers. Yet, one Pew analysis found that a significant share of “nones” consider religion important in their lives.

“Somebody who has no religious affiliation, they may well value religion,” said David Campbell, a political scientist at the University of Notre Dame. “And they may well believe in God.”

Belief in God was near-universal in previous generations. It’s a notion bound up in American identity, not to mention American currency.

In 1954, at the height of the Cold War, President Eisenhower signed a bill that added the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance. The next year, he signed a bill that inscribed “In God We Trust” on currency.

“To be a communist was to be an atheist, and to be an American was to be a Christian, and a person of faith,” said Ryan Burge, a political scientist at Eastern Illinois University.

If the Cold War pushed religion into politics, the Republican Revolution of 1994 pushed religion into partisan politics. Republican leaders of that era increasingly identified Christianity and churchgoing with patriotism and republicanism, seeding a generational retreat from the church by Democrats and the Left.

Today, agnostics are three times as likely to identify as Democrat than Republican, Pew research shows, while only 15 percent of atheists count themselves as Republicans.

“Christian nationalism is a very potent force right now,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for atheists, agonistics and nontheists. “We’re at a great polarization, and we’re seeing such extremists at that religious end. That might tip people out: ‘I’m coming out of the closet as a nonbeliever, I’ve had it.’”

The rise in “nons,” “nones” and nonbelievers all come at the expense of a vanishing “moderate middle” of American faith, Campbell said.

Mainline Protestantism “is collapsing,” Burge wrote in a recent article tracking the decline of Christian denominations and the rise of nondenominational churches.

Since the 1970s, the share of Americans who identified as Baptists, Methodists and other Protestant denominations has slipped from more than 30 percent to around 10 percent. In the same span, the share of nondenominational Protestants has exploded. The 2020 U.S. Religion Census found 6.5 million more nondenominational congregants and thousands more churches than in 2010.

“If ‘nondenominational’ were a denomination, it would be the largest Protestant one, claiming more than 13 percent of churchgoers in America,” Daniel Silliman wrote in Christianity Today.

Nondenominational churches often start as, “literally, a guy in his basement,” Burge said.

“They’re real-estate brokers, they’re insurance agents, they’re farmers. And they start a church. You got famous because of your tweets or your YouTubes.”

Some nondenominational churches are large enough to seed new denominations. Willow Creek, an evangelical “megachurch” based in the Chicago suburbs, has claimed as many as 25,000 worshippers at several locations.

Multigenerational communities formed around the Baptist and Methodist churches that dominated town squares for generations. By contrast, nondenominational churches often thrive on their otherness, attracting congregants who mistrust ancient American institutions.

“What those churches try to do is to be as easy as possible,” Burge said. “They don’t have membership rolls. They don’t fill out contact cards. They make it really easy to get in, but that also makes it really easy to get out. That’s how they’re designed, is to be much more transitory. A lot of these churches don’t have membership. It’s not a thing.”

Not all socioeconomic groups are leaving the pews at the same rate. College-educated Americans are now markedly more likely to belong to a church than those without a college education, according to Gallup polling.

The statistic belies the long-held suspicion that college professors were killing religion.

“People who aren’t college-educated tend to be less likely to participate in civic institutions, to participate in politics, to get married,” said Melissa Deckman, CEO of the nonprofit Public Religion Research Institute.

Younger people are less religious than older generations. Gallup polls show 34 percent of Generation Z identify as “nones,” compared with 29 percent of Millennials and 25 percent of Generation X.

Some of this generational difference is, well, generational: Older people tend to be more religious, first as they settle down and have children, then as they approach a reunion with their creator, assuming they believe in one.

But the Gen-Z religious disconnect also stems from political divisions, some of which may not go away.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation sponsors an annual essay contest for young people. Recent essays have focused on the LGBTQ movement and abortion rights, Gaylor said, both issues with entrenched opposition among a wide swath of conservative religious organizations.

Faith-based groups see hope in recent evidence of a rebound in churchgoing. Research from Barna Group, a Christian polling firm, suggests that the share of Millennials making weekly church outings nearly doubled to 39 percent in 2022 from 21 percent in pre-pandemic 2019. The group found smaller bumps in church attendance among Gen-X families and boomers.

Groome, of Boston College, takes heart in new data suggesting the “nones” population is leveling off in recent years, after two decades of steady rise.   “So, I don’t think it’s all over yet,” he said.

And while it may be socially acceptable these days to identify as a nonbeliever, some of the atheist stigma endures.   On Wednesday, Winter Solstice, Gaylor’s foundation plans to run an ad in The New York Times, a red-cheeked Santa framed by the message, “Yes Virginia. . . There is no God.”

The Times wouldn’t run it, Gaylor said, unless her organization added two more lines of clarification: “That’s what tens of millions of nonreligious Americans believe.”  (Thehill.com)

The life story of the most famous person who has ever lived is, in fact, filled with a mysterious gaping hole. Bible speaks about the disappearance and finding of Jesus at The Jerusalem Temple at age 12, and reconnects us with him at age 30 when he began his ministry with the Baptism by John the Baptist. From the age of 13 to 29 there is no Biblical, Western, or Middle Eastern record of Jesus‘s whereabouts or activities in Palestine.

There is talk of the missing years of Jesus, unmentioned in the gospels, when he was between the ages of 12 and 30. Some say he was in India, picking up Buddhist ideas. These aren’t notions that have entirely died out. Known as “The Lost Years,” this gaping hole remained a mystery until one explorer’s remarkable discovery in 1887.

In the late 19th century a Russian doctor named Nicolas Notovitch traveled extensively throughout India, Tibet, and Afghanistan. He chronicled his experiences and discoveries in his 1894 book The Unknown Life of Christ. At one point during his voyage, Notovitch broke his leg in 1887 and recuperated at the Tibetan Buddhist Monastery of Hemis in the city of Leh, at the very top of India. It was here where monks showed Notovitch two large yellowed volumes of a document written in Tibetan, entitled The Life of Saint Issa.

During his time at the monastery, Notovitch translated the document which tells the true story of a child named Jesus (i.e. Issa = “son of God”) born in the first century to a poor family in Israel. Jesus was referred to as “the son of God” by the Vedic scholars who tutored him in the sacred Buddhist texts from the age of 13 to 29. Notovitch translated 200 of the 224 verses from the document.

During his time at the monastery in 1887, one lama explained to Notovitch the full scope and extreme level of enlightenment that Jesus had reached. “Issa [Jesus] is a great prophet, one of the first after the twenty-two Buddhas,” the lama tells Notovitch. “He is greater than any one of all the Dalai Lamas, for he constitutes part of the spirituality of our Lord. It is he who has enlightened you, who has brought back within the pale of religion the souls of the frivolous, and who has allowed each human being to distinguish between good and evil. His name and his acts are recorded in our sacred writings. And in reading of his wondrous existence, passed in the midst of an erring and wayward people, we weep at the horrible sin of the pagans who, after having tortured him, put him to death.”

The discovery of Jesus’s time in India lines up perfectly with The Lost Years of Jesus, as well as with the degree of significance of his birth in the Middle East. When a great Buddhist, or Holy Man (i.e. Lama), dies, wise men consult the stars and other omens and set off — often on extraordinarily long journeys — to find the infant who is the reincarnation of the Lama. When the child is old enough he is taken away from his parents and educated in the Buddhist faith. Experts speculate that this is the foundational origin of the story of the Three Wise Men, and it is now believed Jesus was taken to India at 13 and taught as a Buddhist. At the time, Buddhism was already a 500-year-old religion and Christianity, of course, had not even begun.

“Jesus is said to have visited our land and Kashmir to study Buddhism. He was inspired by the laws and wisdom of Buddha,” a senior lama of the Hemis monastery told the IANS news agency. The head of the Drukpa Buddhist sect, Gwalyang Drukpa, who heads the Hemis monastery, is reported to have confirmed this narrative.

The 224 verses have since been documented by others, including Russian philosopher and scientist, Nicholas Roerich, who in 1952 recorded accounts of Jesus’s time at the monastery. “Jesus passed his time in several ancient cities of India such as Benares or Varanasi. Everyone loved him because Issa dwelt in peace with the Vaishyas and Shudras whom he instructed and helped,” writes Roerich.

Jesus spent some time teaching in the ancient holy cities of Jagannath (Puri), Benares (in Uttar Pradesh), and Rajagriha (in Bihar), which provoked the Brahmins to excommunicate him which forced him to flee to the Himalayas where he spent another six years studying Buddhism.

German scholar, Holger Kersten, also writes of the early years of Jesus in India in the book Jesus Lived In India. “The lad arrives in a region of the Sindh (along the river Indus) in the company of merchants,” writes Kersten. “He settled among the Aryans with the intention of perfecting himself and learning from the laws of the great Buddha. He travelled extensively through the land of the five rivers (Punjab), stayed briefly with the Jains before proceeding to Jagannath.”

And in the BBC documentary, Jesus Was A Buddhist Monk, experts theorize that Jesus escaped his crucifixion, and in his mid-late 30s he returned to the land he loved so much. He not only escaped death, but he also visited with the Jewish settlers in Afghanistan who had escaped similar tyranny of the Jewish emperor Nebuchadnezzar. Locals confirm that Jesus spent the next several years in the Kashmir Valley where he lived happily until his death at 80-years-old. With sixteen years of his youth spent in the region, as well as approximately his last 45, that means Jesus spent a total of roughy 61 to 65 years of his life in India, Tibet, and the neighboring area. Locals believe he is buried at the RozaBal shrine at Srinagar in India-controlled Kashmir.

Sam Miller, a BBC writer, who travelled to Srinagar, reports of having identified this tomb, reported and believed by some to be that of Jesus. Jesus is reputed to be buried in this run-down Rozabul shrine in the Kashmir capital. “The shrine, on a street corner, is a modest stone building with a traditional Kashmiri multi-tiered sloping roof,” Miller writes. “A watchman led me in and encouraged me to inspect the smaller wooden chamber within, with its trellis-like, perforated screen. Through the gaps I could see a gravestone covered with a green cloth.”

Miller writes, according to an eclectic combination of New Age Christians, unorthodox Muslims and fans of the Da Vinci Code, the grave contains the mortal remains of a candidate for the most important visitor of all time to India. Officially, the tomb is the burial site of Youza Asaph, a medieval Muslim preacher – but a growing number of people believe that it is in fact the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth. They believe that Jesus survived the crucifixion almost 2,000 Easters ago, and went to live out his days in Kashmir.

As per local beliefs, Jesus was among the religious leaders who attended a famous Buddhist meeting here in AD80. “The stories of Jesus in India are not just aimed at gullible tourists – they date back to the 19th Century,” Miller writes.

They were part of attempts to explain the striking similarities between Christianity and Buddhism, a matter of great concern to 19th Century scholars – and also a desire among some Christians to root the story of Jesus in Indian soil.

The US-based Christian sect, known as the Church Universal and Triumphant, is the best-known modern supporter of the belief that Jesus lived in Kashmir, though they don’t believe he died there.

Many years of research by theologian, Holger Kersten, in his book, “Jesus Lived in India: His Unknown Life Before and After the Crucifixion” presents irrefutable evidence that Jesus did indeed live in India, dying there in old age. Kersten’s book takes the reader to all the historical sites connected with Jesus in Israel, the Middle East, Afghanistan and India. Kersten concludes: In his youth Jesus followed the ancient Silk Road to India. While there he studied Buddhism, adopting its tenets and becoming a spiritual master. Jesus survived the crucifixion. After the resurrection Jesus returned to India to die in old age. Jesus was buried in Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir, where he continues to be revered as a saintly man. The tomb of Jesus still exists in Kashmir.

And in Islam, in which Jesus is the penultimate prophet, there is also a minority tradition adopted by the controversial Ahmadiyya sect, that Rozabal does contain the grave of Jesus.

Professional historians tend to laugh out loud when you mention the notion that Jesus might have lived in Kashmir – but his tomb is now firmly on the tourist trail – and a growing number of credulous visitors believe that he was buried in the Rozabal shrine. (Courtesy: BBC News)

A small Buddhist temple in Thailand has been left without any monks after they were all dismissed for failing drug tests, local officials have said.

Four monks, including the abbot, tested positive for methamphetamine in the northern province of Phetchabun, an official told news agency AFP.

Boonlert Thintapthai said the monks were subsequently sent to a health clinic to undergo drug rehabilitation.

The raid comes amid a national campaign to tackle drug trafficking.

The monks were reportedly removed from the temple after police administered urine tests on Monday, which saw all four men fail. Officials did not say what had brought the temple to the attention of police.

Mr Thintapthai told AFP that the “temple is now empty of monks and nearby villagers are concerned they cannot do any merit-making”.

Merit-making is an important Buddhist practice where worshippers gain a protective force through good deeds – in this case by giving food to monks.

But Mr Thintapthai said that regional officials had sought the assistance of the local monastic chief, who had promised to assign some new monks to the temple in the Bung Sam Phan district in a bid to address the concerns of worshippers.

In recent years, methamphetamine has become a major issue in Thailand, with seizures of the drug reaching an all time high in 2021, according to the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime.

The country is a major transit point for methamphetamine. The drugs flood into the country from Myanmar – the world’s biggest producer of methamphetamine – via Laos.

The pills are then sold on the streets with a value of around 50 Baht ($1.40; £1.17).

Last month, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha ordered a clampdown on drugs after a former police officer who had been dismissed from the force for methamphetamine possession killed 37 people during a shooting at a nursery.

An author, researcher and filmmaker who has focused his work on the history and legacy of Sikhism was awarded Hofstra University’s 2022 Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize at a banquet Nov. 14 at the Crest Hollow Country Club.

Amardeep Singh, co-managing director and co-founder of Lost Heritage Productions in Singapore, recently completed a 24-episode documentary series retracing the 16^th century travels of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion. The series, “Allegory: A Tapestry of Guru Nanak’s Travels” was filmed at more than 150 multi-faith sites in nine countries.

Singh has written several books, including “Lost Heritage: The Sikh Legacy In Pakistan” and “The Quest Continues: Lost Heritage – The Sikh Legacy” and produced two documentaries based on his experiences traveling in Pakistan, “Peering Warrior” and “Peering Soul”.

The $50,000 Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize is bestowed every two years to recognize significant work to increase interfaith understanding.

“Hofstra University is pleased to present the 2022 Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize to Amardeep Singh, for his work exploring and preserving Sikh heritage and culture,” Hofstra President Susan Poser said during the award ceremony. “As an author and independent filmmaker, Mr. Singh demonstrates a deep commitment to the values that Guru Nanak embodied and to the principles of religious understanding.”

Before the banquet, Singh and his wife, Vininder Kaur, who directed and wrote the Guru Nanak docuseries, discussed the project at Hofstra University. “Having the Guru Nanak prize at Hofstra provides our College of Liberal Arts & Sciences faculty and students with an extraordinary opportunity, and one that aligns with our mission as an educational institution,” President Poser said.

A committee of faculty and administrators unanimously chose Singh from among 18 nominees, said Daniel Seabold, acting dean of Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“The committee was greatly impressed by Amardeep Singh’s examination of Guru Nanak’s interest in seeking universal fellowship among people of diverse faiths,” Seabold said. Members “considered several worthy organizations whose work is larger in scale but decided that an award to Mr. Singh would be more impactful.”

His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso was the first winner of the Guru Nanak Prize in 2008. Since then, eight individuals and organizations have been recognized with the prize, including 2020 co-honorees author and scholar Dr. Karen Armstrong and her global Charter for Compassion movement, and the Interfaith Center of New York.

“To receive the Guru Nanak Prize from Hofstra University is a humbling recognition of our belief that the essence of existence is love for togetherness,” Singh said. “His message of unity in diversity was, is and will remain a ray of hope for a united world.”

The Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize was established in 2006 by Sardar Ishar Singh Bindra and family and named for the founder of the Sikh religion. It is meant to encourage understanding of various religions, and foster collaboration between faith communities. Guru Nanak believed that all humans are equal, regardless of color, ethnicity, nationality, or gender identity.

The Bindra family in 2000 endowed the Sardarni Kuljit Kaur Bindra Chair in Sikh Studies to honor its matriarch. Speaking on behalf of the Bindra family, businessman, philanthropist, and former member of Hofstra’s Board of Trustees Sardar Tejinder Singh Bindra said: “Guru Nanak spoke about love for humanity as well as respect for every religion. With that in mind, my parents established the Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize as a way to recognize as well as support the efforts of individuals/organizations that work to advance dialogue between religions to help minimize religious conflict, which all the recipients have strived to achieve, from the very first recipient, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, to the current recipient, Amardeep Singh. We are pleased that the award is being given this year a week after Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s birthday as honor to his vision and teachings.”

Adding on to the Diwali cheer among Hindu-Americans, a new 87-foot tower at the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Cary was inaugurated by North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper in presence of hundreds of devotees.

The completion of the tower, which is named “Tower of Unity and Prosperity”, comes 13 years after the temple construction started in 2009, and is now the tallest of its kind in North America, according to temple leaders.

“What a wonderful day this is, especially in times of trouble… walking into this temple with reverence and leaving your worries on the outside for just a while… That’s something we all need to do, but then we can always leave the temple with even more determination than ever to address those worries, and to make sure we’re doing something about it,” Governor Cooper said addressing the community, CBS17 reported.

Approval for the tower was granted in 2019, and construction began in April 2020, “right at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic”, Lakshminarayanan Srinivasan, general secretary of the temple’s board of trustees, told Raleigh News & Observer.

According to Srinivasan, the “donate a brick” program, which invited Indian-Americans from across the country to donate whatever they could to help see through the tower’s completion, around $2.5 million from more than 5,000 donors.

Srinivasan said that there are additional plans for expansion, including an assembly hall that would be built next to the temple. He added that there are plans to build fountains and a “manicured landscape” to surround the temple.

The temple is modeled after the famous Sri Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, and is known to be the largest Hindu temple in North America.

Sri Venkateswara Temple came into being after there was a growing demand in 1988 by Indians living in Triangle area of North Carolina, who wanted the grandeur and minutely detailed artwork of South Indian temples reproduced here.

Fourteen artisans were brought in from India to hand-carve the temple’s decorative Hindu idols out of cement.

The expansion of the temple comes at a time when the Indian population in the Triangle area, also known as Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, is growing.

According to Indian American Impact, 425,000 Asian Americans live in North Carolina with Indian-Americans making up the largest ethnic group.

According to 2021 census estimates, over 51,000 Indian-Americans lived in Wake County in North Carolina, and 57,000 in Wake, Durham and Orange counties combined. (IANS)

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is commemorating the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, the landmark meetings that brought the 2,000-year-old Catholic Church into the modern era, amid continued disagreement about what the council taught that divides the faithful today.

Francis is celebrating a Mass on Tuesday in honor of St. John XXIII, who convened the council and presided over its opening sessions. Tuesday’s commemoration opens with a reading of John’s inaugural speech and ends with a re-enactment of the candle-lit procession that lit up St. Peter’s Square on the night of Oct. 11, 1962.

On that night, the “good pope” came to the window of the Apostolic Palace and delivered his famous “moonlight speech” to the thousands of people who had gathered below. Whereas pre-Vatican II popes usually spoke in formal terms, John surprised the crowd with an impromptu, pastoral speech urging the faithful to go home to their children and give them a hug and tell them “this is the caress of the pope.”

The council would last for another three years and outlive John, who died in 1963 of stomach cancer. But when it was over, council fathers had agreed to major changes in the life of the church, such as allowing Mass to be celebrated in local languages rather than Latin and strengthening the role of laity in the everyday life of the church. The council also encouraged efforts to improve relations among Christians and revolutionized the church’s relations with Jews, including the step to remove the phrase “perfidious Jews” from the liturgy.

Francis, 85, is the first pope to have been ordained after the council, and his priorities are very much inspired by it.

“Above all peace, above all the poor church,” said Vatican II historian Alberto Melloni. In a telephone interview, Melloni also pointed to Francis’ insistence on a “synodal” or decentralized church, with an emphasis on laity. The latter is clearly evident in his decision to allow laypeople, including women, to head Vatican offices and in the the two-year “synod” process in which ordinary Catholic faithful have contributed their thoughts on the life and mission of the church.

But Vatican II still very much divides the church, with progressives seeing it as a break from the past and conservatives seeing it as fully in line with church tradition and chafing at the “spirit of Vatican II” progressive read of it. Francis has in some ways exacerbated those divisions by re-imposing restrictions on the celebration of the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass.

“John XXIII did not convoke Vatican II to reinvent Catholicism,” writes church historian George Weigel in his new book “To Sanctify the World: The Vital Legacy of Vatican II.”

“As he put it in his opening address, the council’s ‘greatest concern’ must be the more effective presentation of Catholic truth in full” through a new language and vocabulary that could be understood in the modern world, Weigel wrote in excerpts recently published in the Wall Street Journal.

Vatican II coincided with the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the United States and Russia came as close as they ever had to nuclear war. Looking ahead to Tuesday’s anniversary of Vatican II, Francis noted over the weekend that Russia is threatening to use its nuclear arsenal in its war in Ukraine.

“Why can’t we learn from history?” Francis asked. “Even in those times, there was grave conflict and tensions, but they chose the path of peace.”

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). India’s 1983 Cricket World Cup winning hero Roger Binny is likely to replace Sourav Ganguly as the BCCI president when the Board holds its annual general meeting on October 18. Binny filed his nomination for the presidential election on Tuesday. After hectic parleys and back-channel discussions over the past week, it was decided that the 67-year-old from Bengaluru would be the 36th Board president, a source familiar with the development said. Binny has previously served as a member of the BCCI selection committee. He is currently president of Karnataka State Cricket Association. Jay Shah, son of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, will continue as BCCI secretary for his second term. Shah is, however, expected to replace Ganguly as India’s representative at the ICC Board. Rajiv Shukla is likely to continue as the BCCI vice-president. Ganguly is tipped to be India’s representative for the 16-member International Cricket Council (ICC) Board chairman’s post, elections for which are slated to be held in November. More here

The divinity associated with Ujjain is centred around ‘Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga’ placed inside Mahakaleshwar Temple, also known as Mahakal Mandir, dedicated to Hindu deity Shiva 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first phase of Mahakaleshwar Corridor in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh last week, dedicating the ambitious Rs 856-crore project to the country.

Before he unveiled the large shivling covered in strands of sacred red threads, amid Vedic chants to mark the inauguration, the prime minister performed puja with rituals at the famous Mahakaleshwar Temple, which houses one of the 12 jyotirlingas of Hindu deity Shiva.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the first phase of Mahakaleshwar Corridor in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, dedicating the ambitious Rs 856-crore project to the country.

Before he unveiled the large shivling covered in strands of sacred red threads, amid Vedic chants to mark the inauguration, the prime minister performed puja with rituals at the famous Mahakaleshwar Temple, which houses one of the 12 jyotirlingas of Hindu deity Shiva.

The divinity associated with the holy city of Ujjain is centred around the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga placed inside the temple also known as Mahakal Mandir. The temple is dedicated to Hindu deity Shiva, believed to be the god of time and death. He is called Mahakaleshwar, made up of the two meanings of the word kaal – time and death.

These jyotirlingas, or shrines, are believed to be the most sacred abodes of Shiva. According to the Puranas, the Hindu god pierced the world as an endless pillar of light called the jyotirlinga. Barring the the Mahakaleshwar jyotirlinga in Ujjain, the other 11 jyotirlinga sites are Somnath and Dwarka’s Nageswar in Gujarat; Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh; Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh; Kedarnath in Uttarakhand; Bhimashankar, Triambakeshwar and Aurangabad’s Grishneshwar in Maharashtra; Viswanath at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh; Baidyanath Temple in Jharkhand’s Deoghar; and Rameshwar at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu.

Located on the banks of Shipra river, considered holy, this temple in Ujjain is among the most sacred Shiva temples in the country. Shiva, the Hindu god of time and death, is known to reign supreme in Ujjain, as per accounts of local legends that call him the city’s chief deity. Hence, the city’s life and its people are dominated by the essence of Mahakal signifying its bond with ancient Hindu traditions.

The city has other famous and ancient temples as well, and one of the oldest bathing ghats, Ram Ghat, is one of the venues for the Kumbh Mela, a Hindu pilgrimage held every 12 years.

Why is the ‘Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga’ most prominent?

The Puranas and other holy scriptures in Hinduism have a vivid description of the glory of this jyotirlinga and it is also mentioned in many ancient Indian texts, including a poetic text, Meghadutam, composed by Kalidasa in the 4th century.

Many believe that the lingam (another term used for shivling) in Ujjain is swayambhu, which means it is naturally occurring or even “self-manifested”. Also known as dakshinamukhi, this is the only jyotirlinga facing the south while the other 11 face east. This is known to be a unique feature linked to the tantric traditions of Shiva worship in Hinduism, and is found only in Mahakaleshwar.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the shivling faces south as the direction of death is believed to be the south. A local legend says an Ujjain king by the name of Chandrasena was a Shiva devotee and so strong was his devotion that the god appeared in his Mahakal form and destroyed his enemies, as per the report. Shiva then agreed to reside in the city, on request of his devotees, and became its chief deity.

What is the significance of Mahakal temple’s location?

Popularly known as the Greenwich of India, Ujjain is geographically located at a spot where the zero meridian of longitude (Madhyarekha) and Tropic of Cancer (Karkavrutta) intersect. Many religious places in the city are somehow connected to time. Ujjain’s connection to astronomy, hence, shows how the Shiva temple here is dedicated to Mahakal, the god of time.

It is, however, difficult to tell when the temple first came into existence. It may be assigned to the pre-historic period as the Puranas say it was first established by Prajapita Brahma. According to the official website of the Mahakaleshwar Temple, there is a reference to the appointment of Kumarasena, a prince, by king Chanda Pradyota in 6th century BC for looking after the law and order situation of Mahakal temple. References in several ancient Indian texts describe the temple as magnificent with its foundation and platform built of stone while the temple rested on wooden pillars, as per the website.

According to information available, the present five-storeyed form of the temple was built by Maratha general Ranoji Shinde in 1734.

What is the tradition of ‘Bhasm Aarti’?

Many who visit Ujjain and its sacred sites count the unique ritual of Bhasm Aarti in the Mahakaleshwar Temple as being one of the major attractions. The aarti begins at 4 am daily and can be attended by anyone. It is preceded by an elaborate hour-long process of bathing and decorating the idol, and drawing a face of “divinity” on it.

With chants of Har har Mahadev and Om namah shivaya ringing in the air accompanied by the clanging of bells, the aarti becomes a divine experience. According to the official website of the Madhya Pradesh tourism department, the Bhasm Aarti was performed with ash from the first

Have you heard about “Chrislam”? It is not a new concept or ideology. Years back while reading  Arthur C. Clarke’s  fantasy novel, “The Hammer of God”, which describes the crisis caused by the imminent collision of an asteroid with planet Earth, this word “Chrislam” appeared somewhere in it.

 Of course,  now, I understand that Chrislam is the movement that earned momentum, which is evident while reading an old article from EMIRATES NEWS: The world religious leaders today adopted the Human Fraternity Document signed by His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al Azhar and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders, Dr. Ahmed el-Tayyeb, and His Holiness Pope Francis of the Catholic Church, in Abu Dhabi in 2019.(NUR-SULTAN, 15th September 2022 (WAM).

The pope and the grand imam of al-Azhar have signed a historic declaration of fraternity, calling for peace between nations, religions and races, in front of a global audience of religious leaders from Christianity, Islam, Judaism and other faiths.

Chrislam was derived as an attempt to syncretize Christianity with Islam. 

In the heartland of Islam that envelopes countries like Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Bahrain, frequent outbreaks of fanatic extremism create enough suffering for the Christian community. But amidst this turmoil, they are able to share the love of Christ in surprising ways.

Sometimes this hatred explodes beyond hostility to hidden interests or agendas or policies or even countries and becomes a rejection of Western civilization. Eventually, it questions the principles and values that it practices and professes. These are indeed seen as innately evil, and those who promote or accept them as the “enemies of God.”

Basically the Muslim and Christian views of their creator God has some similarities and resemblances. Christians believe in one eternal God Who created the universe. Muslims also believe these qualities to their Allah. Both view God as Omnipotent , all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present. 

Today, the descendants of Hagar, Ishmael, and Esau (Edom) are all Muslim nations (Islam). As we discussed, the “pure royal lineage” of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants, including Messiah, is Jewish (Israel). Again, although the nations are predominately Muslim, there are millions of Christian Arabs who love the Lord!

Religious leaders know very well that  Islam and Christianity cannot be reconciled, for the differences between the two religions are vast and the similarities are few.

Allah and Yahweh are different deities. Allah is unknowable and unapproachable; Yahweh is personal, knowable, and invites us to approach His throne of grace. Allah has never spoken directly to a human being; Yahweh has spoken to people throughout history and continues to do so today. Allah reveals his will but not himself; Yahweh reveals Himself in creation, conscience, the canon of Scripture, and Christ – the Word who became flesh. 

From a broader outlook the essential concept of Chrislam is that Christianity and Islam are interrelated and compatible. On the other hand it seems that anyone can be a Christian and a Muslim at the same time. Like Christianity or Islam Chrislam is not attributed as an actual religion of its own, but a diluting the differences and distinct views between Christians and Muslims.

Advocates of Chrislam points that Jesus is mentioned 25 times in the Qur’an. Christianity and Islam having similar teachings on morals and ethics. But the two largest monotheistic religions fight against each other gives the rise of atheism and other forms of spirituality. Chrislam is viewed as the solution for the ongoing conflict between the predominantly Christian Western world, and the Muslim dominated Middle East.

From the history, Chrislam refers to the assemblage of Islamic and Christian religious practices in Nigeria; in particular, the series of religious movements that merged Muslim and Christian religious practice during the 1970s in Lagos, Nigeria. The movement was pioneered by Yoruba peoples in south-west Nigeria.

The underlying religious concept of Chrislam is that “to be a Muslim or Christian alone is not enough to guarantee success in this world and the hereafter.” As a result, Chrislam combines both Muslim and Christian practices.

“Sources generally describe Chrislam as a new one-world syncretic religion, linking it to what is about to become its headquarters: the Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith complex in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, whose main attractions will be a synagogue, a church, and a mosque, according to a concept by architect Sir David Adjaye. Construction is underway and is expected to be completed in 2022”.(ST.NETWORK). So at least the world has a monumental infrastructure to link with the concept of Chrislam!

Have you heard about “Chrislam”? It is not a new concept or ideology. Years back while reading  Arthur C. Clarke’s  fantasy novel, “The Hammer of God”, which describes the crisis caused by the imminent collision of an asteroid with planet Earth, this word “Chrislam” appeared somewhere in it.

Of course,  now, I understand that Chrislam is the movement that earned momentum, which is evident while reading an old article from EMIRATES NEWS: The world religious leaders today adopted the Human Fraternity Document signed by His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al Azhar and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders, Dr. Ahmed el-Tayyeb, and His Holiness Pope Francis of the Catholic Church, in Abu Dhabi in 2019.(NUR-SULTAN, 15th September 2022 (WAM).

The pope and the grand imam of al-Azhar have signed a historic declaration of fraternity, calling for peace between nations, religions and races, in front of a global audience of religious leaders from Christianity, Islam, Judaism and other faiths.

Chrislam was derived as an attempt to syncretize Christianity with Islam.

In the heartland of Islam that envelopes countries like Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Bahrain, frequent outbreaks of fanatic extremism create enough suffering for the Christian community. But amidst this turmoil, they are able to share the love of Christ in surprising ways.

Sometimes this hatred explodes beyond hostility to hidden interests or agendas or policies or even countries and becomes a rejection of Western civilization. Eventually, it questions the principles and values that it practices and professes. These are indeed seen as innately evil, and those who promote or accept them as the “enemies of God.”

Basically the Muslim and Christian views of their creator God has some similarities and resemblances. Christians believe in one eternal God Who created the universe. Muslims also believe these qualities to their Allah. Both view God as Omnipotent , all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present.

Today, the descendants of Hagar, Ishmael, and Esau (Edom) are all Muslim nations (Islam). As we discussed, the “pure royal lineage” of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants, including Messiah, is Jewish (Israel). Again, although the nations are predominately Muslim, there are millions of Christian Arabs who love the Lord!

Religious leaders know very well that  Islam and Christianity cannot be reconciled, for the differences between the two religions are vast and the similarities are few.

Allah and Yahweh are different deities. Allah is unknowable and unapproachable; Yahweh is personal, knowable, and invites us to approach His throne of grace. Allah has never spoken directly to a human being; Yahweh has spoken to people throughout history and continues to do so today. Allah reveals his will but not himself; Yahweh reveals Himself in creation, conscience, the canon of Scripture, and Christ – the Word who became flesh.

From a broader outlook the essential concept of Chrislam is that Christianity and Islam are interrelated and compatible. On the other hand it seems that anyone can be a Christian and a Muslim at the same time. Like Christianity or Islam Chrislam is not attributed as an actual religion of its own, but a diluting the differences and distinct views between Christians and Muslims.

Advocates of Chrislam points that Jesus is mentioned 25 times in the Qur’an. Christianity and Islam having similar teachings on morals and ethics. But the two largest monotheistic religions fight against each other gives the rise of atheism and other forms of spirituality. Chrislam is viewed as the solution for the ongoing conflict between the predominantly Christian Western world, and the Muslim dominated Middle East.

From the history, Chrislam refers to the assemblage of Islamic and Christian religious practices in Nigeria; in particular, the series of religious movements that merged Muslim and Christian religious practice during the 1970s in Lagos, Nigeria. The movement was pioneered by Yoruba peoples in south-west Nigeria.

The underlying religious concept of Chrislam is that “to be a Muslim or Christian alone is not enough to guarantee success in this world and the hereafter.” As a result, Chrislam combines both Muslim and Christian practices.

“Sources generally describe Chrislam as a new one-world syncretic religion, linking it to what is about to become its headquarters: the Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith complex in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, whose main attractions will be a synagogue, a church, and a mosque, according to a concept by architect Sir David Adjaye. Construction is underway and is expected to be completed in 2022”.(ST.NETWORK). So at least the world has a monumental infrastructure to link with the concept of Chrislam!

(RNS) — The day after convening more than 200 red-robed cardinals from around the world and elevating 20 new “princes of the church,” Pope Francis impressed on his audience at a Mass on Sunday (Aug. 28) the importance of humility. He stressed the value of selflessness and — in what was perhaps a tease to Catholic leaders who have heard rumors of his intent to retire — knowing when to step down.

“There is no other way to realize God’s will than by taking on the strength of the humble,” the pope said in his homily at the St. Mary in Collemaggio Basilica in Aquila, near Rome. “Because of the way they are, the humble are seen as weak and losers, but in reality, they are the real winners because they are the only ones who trust completely in the Lord and know his will.”

The pope had come to Aquila to perform, for the first time in 700 years, the dramatic opening of the Holy Door of the basilica, a tradition begun by Pope Celestine V, who first opened the door in 1294 A.D. to admit believers to enter through the gate to the basilica to seek forgiveness of their sins. The pardon, which usually lasts a few days, has been extend to last until late in August of next year.

Besides the Celestinian Pardon, Celestine is remembered for being among the small number of pontiffs who chose to retire instead of carrying out their ministry until their deaths. Francis also visited Celestine’s tomb below the basilica, which Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI famously visited four years before announcing his resignation in 2013.

With most of the men who will appoint his successor in Rome for the 2022 consistory, or meeting of the full College of Cardinals, Francis also had Vatican observers on pins and needles about his own plans. He has repeatedly denied that he will follow Benedict and resign his post, but the rumors persist.

In an aside at Sunday’s Mass, Francis criticized the poet Dante Alighieri’s choice to place Celestine close to the doors of hell in his epic “Inferno,” calling Celestine not “the man of the ‘no,’ but the man of the ‘yes.’”

“The strength of the humble is the Lord — not strategies, human means, the logic of this world, machinations,” the pope continued. “In this sense, Celestine V was a brave witness to the gospel because no logic of power was capable of imprisoning and limiting him.”

Humility, Francis said, is about adopting a “healthy realism” with ourselves and recognizing “our potential but also our miseries.” Only by experiencing suffering and misery can individuals truly find compassion and love for others, he added.

The pope is meeting behind closed doors at the Vatican on Monday and Tuesday with the cardinals. Among them is the newly elevated Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego, who in his homily on Sunday echoed Francis’ call for a humble church.

Christian humility, McElroy said, is two things: “It is putting aside the pretenses and facades we often erect to try to look better to others than we are and, secondly, challenging and facing the impulse all of us have to place our own interests ahead of those of others.”  McElroy emphatically dismissed reports that the pope would resign.

The 85-year-old pontiff has been struggling with knee pain, which confined him to a wheelchair and forced him to cancel important events, including a July trip to Africa. But Francis acknowledged in a news conference on the papal plane returning from Canada on July 30 that he might have to slow down in order to serve the church. On that occasion, he also said that his resignation “wouldn’t be a catastrophe.”

(RNS) — Descendants of those who experienced the Partition of Punjab in 1947 come together to share stories of interfaith collaboration after 75 years of religious animosity in India and Pakistan.

In September of 1947, after Tarunjit Singh Butalia’s Sikh grandparents’ ancestral home in West Punjab was set afire by mobs from a neighboring village, they had no choice but to flee. A Muslim couple in present-day Pakistan swore on the Quran to give them shelter and protect them as if they were family.

They survived, and seven decades later, Butalia, now executive director of the interfaith advocacy organization Religions for Peace USA, tracked down the Muslim couple’s son. The man guided him to the village where his parents, Ahmed Bashir Virk and his wife, Amina Bibi, were buried. Butalia knelt and kissed their graves.

“There are angels that walk on the earth,” said Butalia, who chronicled his grandparents’ past in his 2020 book, “My Journey Home: Going Back to Lehnda Punjab.” “And for my family, they were indeed angels on earth.”

Butalia is only two generations removed from the Partition of South Asia in August 1947, when the British, as they ended their colonial rule in India, imposed a national boundary across northern India that created Pakistan. In so doing they split the religiously diverse province of Punjab into West, or Lehnda, Punjab, and East, or Charda, Punjab.

The border added a geographical quotient to the existing religious distinctions made between Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, Jains and Christians, resulting in nearly 15 million people being divided from their religious community. Many left their homes to seek wholeness again in the largest mass migration that the region has seen; others stayed and fought for their rights as minorities. More than half a million people died in revenge killings, riots and communal violence from all sides.

Butalia believes the kindness shown to his grandparents fostered his devotion to creating meaningful relationships and understanding between people of faith. The shared history of Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus at the time of Partition led him to his current position, as well as his work as a founding member of the Sikh Coalition for Interfaith Relations.

“The interfaith movement is very much who I am,” said Butalia. “It has been a critical factor in my formation of Sikh identity.”

The feuding that the Partition initiated between Indian and Pakistani Hindus and Muslims has not ceased. Increasingly it is fueled by governments on both sides that stoke religious nationalist feelings among their citizens.

But in this 75th anniversary year of the Partition, stories such as Butalia’s are the focus of many Indians and Pakistanis who are looking to oral history to preserve the memory of interfaith collaboration as an essential part of their two countries’ histories. Butalia himself said he hopes to use the past, when Hindus, Muslims and Sikh protected each other, to look forward past what he calls a pervasive “patriotism of hate.”

At a recent webinar about the Partition of Punjab held by the Sikh Council for Interfaith Relations, three scholars — one Hindu, one Muslim and one Sikh — related their families’ experiences.

One speaker lived through the trauma himself.

“The Partition of Punjab was a period of marked madness, massacres and lifelong misery,” said Ranbir Singh Sandhu, professor emeritus at the Ohio State University. “But goodness eventually prevails, and it did this time too.”

A practicing Sikh, Sandhu was an engineering college student in east Punjab in 1947. The neighborhood where he lived at the time was declared a Muslim refugee camp after the Partition, which had rendered his Sikh family the minority religious group. But that didn’t stop them from providing the refugees with halal food and temporary shelter.

“These were old neighbors and helpers,” said Sandhu. “We knew they were friends.”

When he and his brother were forced to leave what is now Lahore, Pakistan, it was a group of Muslim men that helped them find their way. And when heavy rains in Punjab damaged houses, Sandhu’s Muslim friends took charge of the rescue.

Like Butalia, Sandhu continued to maintain friendships with Muslims, Hindus and Christians, whether as colleagues or as Ph.D. students he advised.

“All this madness and misery was avoidable,” said Sandhu. “Both nations have wasted a lot of money on fighting.”

The webinar drew floods of comments from audience members that showcased the wide array of stories that Punjabis across the world still tell. The panelists agreed that the best way to share anecdotes and tales of the Partition is through social media, or what another panelist, Akhtar Hussain Sandhu, called “the new face of Punjab nationalism.”

The 1947 Partition Archive, founded in 2013, is dedicated to preserving stories from the South Asian community. Panelist Munish Singh is the moderator for the Punjab Heritage Facebook group, which has over 100,000 members.

We must use these tools to do what the government can’t provide,” said Singh. “Cross-border, people-to-people conversations.”

For the divisions to heal, Butalia said, people must separate neighbors from the actions of their governments, confront people in their own religious communities who are moving toward extremism and use compassion generously.

“What worries me is the line that people have drawn in their hearts,” said Butalia. “That is the border that needs to be erased.”

In his book, Butalia shares a story from his visit to the hometown of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, who was famously accompanied on his journeys by his Muslim friend Bhai Mardana. Butalia recalled seeing a group of Muslim schoolchildren visiting the gurdwara, as Sikh houses of worship are called.

The students told him they often come by for the langar — the free meals offered by gurdwaras as a service to their community. To his surprise and delight, the children told Butalia that they exchanged Facebook and Twitter accounts with the Sikh children from the other side.

“That is the future,” said Butalia. “This change is already happening. We just need to amplify it.”

A statue of the Hindu goddess Parvati that vanished from the Nadanapureshwarar Sivan Temple at Thandanthottam, Kumbakonam, fifty years ago has been found in New York, according to the Tamil Nadu Idol Wing CID (Crime Investigation Department) on Monday. The idol was reportedly found in New York’s Bonhams Auction House, according to the CID. Despite a report being made to the local police in 1971 and an FIR being filed by the idol wing in 2019, the case had remained unresolved. Inspector M. Chitra of the Idol Wing took over the case and made the case public. She also started searching for Chola-era Parvati idols in overseas museums and auction houses.

Though a complaint was given to the local police in 1971 and an FIR registered by the idol wing on a complaint from an individual K Vasu in February 2019, the case was pending since then. It received attention only recently after the Idol Wing Inspector M Chitra took up the investigation, started browsing for the Parvati idols of the Chola period in various museums and auction houses abroad.

After a thorough search, she found the idol at the Bonhams Auction house. The copper-alloy idol of the Chola period circa 12 century measures about 52 cm in height and is valued at US$ 212,575 (about Rs 1,68,26,143), a release from the Idol Wing said.

Parvati or Uma as the Goddess is commonly known in South India is portrayed in standing position. She is seen wearing a crown, called a karanda mukuta of piled rings diminishing in size and culminating in a lotus bud.

The Virginia State Legislature and Senate have both, unanimously passed a resolution declaring, in perpetuity, October as Hindu Heritage Month. The passing of resolution VA HJ141 which had been introduced by State Delegate Suhas Subramanyam was greeted with great excitement by the Indian American community.

The Hindu American Foundation which took the lead, on July 12 tweeted, “We thank the Virginia Hindu community and partners for helping make this happen,” while its Associate Director of Policy Research, Anita Joshi, credited Subramanyam and advocate Rajesh Gooty for the development.

Launched in 2021, Hindu Heritage Month is the global coming together of Hindus in October each year, to celebrate their rich heritage. October was chosen as it typically hosts an array of festivals like Navaratri, Dusshera, and Deepavali that are celebrated by the diverse communities per their Hindu calendars.

The President of the Vedic Friends Association, Balabhadra Bhattacarya Dasa, speaking on the importance of the initiative said, it would go toward dispelling misinformation and “provide a resource to educate, inform, and inspire not only non-Hindus but encourage Hindus, especially the younger Hindu generation.”

Thara Narasimhan, President, Hindus of Greater Houston also emphasized the importance of the event, pointing out that the synthesis of various languages and traditions that has happened through the ages has given shape to what is recognized as Indian culture today and HMM provides an avenue to showcase this unique openness and abidance of ‘unity in diversity.’

Dr. Jai Bansal, Vice President of Education at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, coordinator for the Hindu Heritage Month movement, noted that the dream to make it a truly global event was slowly getting realized with organizations from Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal, South Africa, Germany, Norway and many other countries signing up as partners.

(RNS) — On his return flight from a six-day “penitential pilgrimage” to apologize to the Indigenous people of Canada on Friday, Pope Francis spoke about his health struggles and what their implications might be for the future of his papacy.

“I don’t think I can continue going on trips with the same pace I had in the past. At my age and with my limitations, I need to save energy in order to serve the church,” the pope told reporters aboard the papal plane, while being seated for the first time during the traditional inflight press conference.

“On the other hand, I might need to think about the possibility of stepping aside. It wouldn’t be a catastrophe. The pope can change, that is not a problem,” he added.

Francis traveled throughout the vast country July 24-29, meeting with First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities in on their own lands. From Edmonton to Quebec City to the far-northern island city of Iqaluit, the pope embarked and disembarked the plane by using a lift and met with Indigenous people on his wheelchair.

Despite the obvious toll the trip had on the pontiff, he appeared lively and energetic during the press conference aboard the papal plane, addressing a wide range of issues. Speaking to journalists, the pope reflected on the pressing issues of his trip by condemning as “evil and unjust” the papal justification for colonialism in the past, enshrined through the Doctrine of Discovery. He described the forceful assimilation of Indigenous people and the attempted erasure of their culture as genocide.

“It’s a genocide,” Francis said, referring to the state and church led practice of “taking away children, changing the culture, the mentality and the conditions and a race” of Indigenous people. The pope said he apologized and condemned the role the church played in the administration of residential schools, which often forcibly removed children from their families and traditions.

The pope said the papal bulls that in the past provided a justification for the colonization and forceful conversion of Indigenous lands were “grievous” and suggested the Vatican is working to amend the Doctrine of Discovery. He encouraged “going back and fixing the wrong that was done” but underlined that colonization continues today in new forms of homogenization and extinction of local diversity.

As an example, Francis spoke about the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar who “don’t have citizenship rights and are considered inferior.”

The papal trip to Canada focused especially on St. Anne, the grandmother of Jesus and a beloved figure in Catholic Indigenous communities. The pope underlined the important “role of women in the transmission and development of the faith.”

“The church is a woman. The church is a wife. The Church is not a man,” he said, adding that the vision of the church as a mother must prevail above any “macho power.”

As many women in the world fight for reproductive rights, Pope Francis weighed in on contraceptives, which were deemed “intrinsically wrong” by the church following Paul VI’s controversial 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, On Human Life, because they deny an openness to life.

“When dogma or morality develop it’s a good thing,” the pope said, before signaling some possibility of developing a revised Catholic doctrine on contraceptives, while insisting this must be done within the church and respecting tradition. “A church that doesn’t develop its thinking in an ecclesial sense is a church that goes backward,” he added.

He pointed to recent changes in Catholic teaching concerning the death penalty and the possession of nuclear weapons, which were once widely accepted within the church and later deemed “immoral” by Pope Francis.

The Vatican think-tank on bioethics, the Pontifical Academy for Life, recently published a book where some theologians argued in favor of developing the church’s teaching on contraceptives. Archival recordings show that Pope John Paul I had reservations regarding a total ban on artificial birth control.

“One cannot do theology with a ‘no’ in front of them,” the pope said, adding that “theological development must be open, because that’s what it’s for, and the magisterium serves to understand the limitations.”

He described as a “sin” the tendency of some “backwardists” who, while claiming to follow tradition, end up sustaining a “dead faith.” While encouraging the development of Catholic docrine, Francis said it must be done in line with tradition and with the church as a whole as enshrined by the early Christian monk Vincent of Lérins.

The pope also addressed a recent Vatican letter that pulled the brakes on a summit of bishops and lay faithful in Germany, which among other things was advocating for changes in Catholic teaching to be more welcoming toward LGBTQ couples and women. Francis said the letter was an “office mistake” because it was meant to be signed by the Vatican Secretariat of State and that he already said all he meant to say about the German synodal assembly in a 2021 letter.

Francis described his trip to Canada “as a bit of a test” to understand what future papal visits might be like. He said the effects of the anesthesia he underwent for his intestinal operation in July of last year led to a slow recovery. But the pope said he still intends to visit the embattled city of Kyiv in Ukraine once the logistics are determined.

He also said he is willing to go to Kazakhstan for an interreligious conference where Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill is scheduled to attend, adding “it would be a tranquil trip with little movement.”

He said he wishes to visit the African states of South Sudan and the Central African Republic of Congo, since he had to cancel his scheduled trip in early July due to his knee pain.

The pope spoke about the papacy as a “work, a function and a service” and did not exclude that God might one day ask him to retire.

“As an hypothesis, if the Lord tells me something I must discern what the Lord wants and it might be that the Lord wants me to take a step back,” he said. The pope’s decision to host a gathering of cardinals, or concistory, at the Vatican in the unusual month of August has spurred rumors Francis might be paving the road for the next pope. Asked about what he would like to see in his successor, Francis said it’s best to leave the decision to “the work of the Holy Spirit.”

By, Jeff Diamant

Unless his reign is short, a Roman Catholic pontiff typically appoints a majority of the men who vote for his successor. But Pope Francis’ additions to the College of Cardinals since his election in 2013 also have served another purpose – tilting the leadership structure of the Roman Catholic Church away from its historic European base and toward developing nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The pope recently announced that he will appoint 16 new voting cardinals (in addition to five other cardinals who are 80 or older and therefore ineligible to vote). After this latest group is officially installed at an Aug. 27 ceremony in Vatican City, the College of Cardinals will have 132 voting members, 40% of whom are European, down from 52% in 2013. 

How we did this

Francis’ appointments (including the recently announced future cardinals) have increased the overall representation of the Asia-Pacific region within the body of voting cardinals from 9% in 2013 to 17% in 2022, while increasing the representation of sub-Saharan Africa from 9% to 12%. These figures include cardinals who were named by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and St. John Paul II.

Francis, an Argentinian who is the first pope from outside Europe since the eighth century, still has picked more cardinals from Europe than from any other region. Of the 83 newly appointed or currently eligible voting cardinals Francis has named so far during his papacy, 34% are from Europe, 22% from the Asia-Pacific region, 20% from Latin America and the Caribbean, 13% from sub-Saharan Africa, 8% from North America and 2% from the Middle East-North Africa region. Altogether, these cardinals appointed by Francis will make up a majority (63%) of the 132 voting members of the College of Cardinals after the Aug. 27 installation ceremony.

Among the 16 future cardinal electors Francis has chosen this year, four will represent Europe (Italy, Spain, France and the United Kingdom). Six will represent the Asia-Pacific region (two from India and one each from East Timor, Mongolia, Singapore and South Korea). Three other future cardinal electors are from Latin America and the Caribbean (two from Brazil and one from Paraguay). Two are from sub-Saharan Africa (Ghana and Nigeria) and one is from North America (U.S.-born Robert McElroy, archbishop of San Diego).

Given that, as of 2010, only about a quarter (24%) of the global Catholic population lives in Europe, the continent remains heavily overrepresented among voting cardinals. By this measure, the most underrepresented region within the church’s leadership – even with Francis’ new picks – is Latin America and the Caribbean, which is home to 39% of the worldwide Catholic population (again, as of 2010) but has only 18% of the cardinals.

Pope Francis issued a historic apology on July 25th for the Catholic Church’s cooperation with Canada’s “catastrophic” policy of Indigenous residential schools, saying the forced assimilation of Native peoples into Christian society destroyed their cultures, severed families and marginalized generations in ways still being felt today.

“I am sorry,” Francis said, to applause from school survivors and Indigenous community members gathered at a former residential school south of Edmonton, Alberta, the first event of Francis’ weeklong “penitential pilgrimage” to Canada.

The morning after he arrived in the country, Francis traveled to the lands of four Cree nations to pray at a cemetery. Four chiefs then escorted the pontiff in his wheelchair to powwow ceremonial grounds where he delivered the long-sought apology and was given a feathered headdress.

“I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples,” Francis said near the site of the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School, now largely torn down.

His words went beyond his earlier apology for the “deplorable” acts of missionaries and instead took responsibility for the church’s institutional cooperation with the “catastrophic” assimilation policy, which Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission said amounted to a “cultural genocide.”

More than 150,000 native children in Canada were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools from the 19th century until the 1970s in an effort to isolate them from the influence of their homes and culture. The aim was to Christianize and assimilate them into mainstream society, which previous Canadian governments considered superior.

The Canadian government has admitted that physical and sexual abuse was rampant at the schools, with students beaten for speaking their native languages. That legacy of that abuse and isolation from family has been cited by Indigenous leaders as a root cause of the epidemic rates of alcohol and drug addiction now on Canadian reservations.

The discoveries of hundreds of potential burial sites at former schools in the past year drew international attention to the legacy of the schools in Canada and their counterparts in the United States. The discoveries prompted Francis to comply with the truth commission’s call for him to apologize on Canadian soil for the Catholic Church’s role; Catholic religious orders operated 66 of the 139 schools in Canada.

Many in the crowd Monday wore traditional dress, including colorful ribbon skirts and vests with Native motifs. Others donned orange shirts, which have become a symbol of residential school survivors, recalling the story of one woman whose favorite orange shirt, a gift from her grandmother, was confiscated when she arrived at a school and replaced with a uniform.

Despite the solemnity of the event, the atmosphere seemed at times joyful: Chiefs processed into the site venue to a hypnotic drumbeat, elders danced and the crowd cheered and chanted war songs, victory songs and finally a healing song.

One of the hosts of the event, Chief Randy Ermineskin of the Ermineskin Cree Nation, said some had chosen to stay away — and that that was understandable. But he said it was nevertheless a historic, important day for his people.

“My late family members are not here with us anymore, my parents went to residential school, I went to residential school,” he told The Associated Press as he waited for Francis to arrive. “I know they’re with me, they’re listening, they’re watching.”

Felisha Crier Hosein traveled from Florida to attend in the place of her mother, who helped create the museum for the nearby Samson Cree Nation and had planned to attend, but died in May.

“I came here to represent her and to be here for the elders and the community,” said Hosein, who wore one of her mother’s colorful ribbon skirts.

“Sorry is not going to make what happened go away,” she said. “But it means a lot to the elders.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who last year voiced an apology for the “incredibly harmful government policy” in organizing the residential school system, was also attending along with the governor general and other officials.

As part of a lawsuit settlement involving the government, churches and approximately 90,000 survivors, Canada paid reparations that amounted to billions of dollars being transferred to Indigenous communities. Canada’s Catholic Church says its dioceses and religious orders have provided more than $50 million in cash and in-kind contributions and hope to add $30 million more over the next five years.

While the pope acknowledged institutional blame, he also made clear that Catholic missionaries were merely cooperating with and implementing the government policy of assimilation, which he termed the “colonizing mentality of the powers.”

“I ask forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the Church and of religious communities cooperated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools,” he said.

He said the policy marginalized generations, suppressed Indigenous languages, severed families, led to physical, verbal, psychological and spiritual abuse and “indelibly affected relationships between parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren.” He called for further investigation, a possible reference to Indigenous demands for further access to church records and personnel files of the priests and nuns to identify who was responsible for the abuses.

“Although Christian charity was not absent, and there were many outstanding instances of devotion and care for children, the overall effects of the policies linked to the residential schools were catastrophic,” Francis said. ” What our Christian faith tells us is that this was a disastrous error, incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The first pope from the Americas was determined to make this trip, even though torn knee ligaments forced him to cancel a visit to Africa earlier this month.

The six-day visit — which will also include other former school sites in Alberta, Quebec City and Iqaluit, Nunavut, in the far north — follows meetings Francis held in the spring at the Vatican with delegations from the First Nations, Metis and Inuit. Those meetings culminated with an April 1 apology for the “deplorable” abuses committed by some Catholic missionaries in residential schools and Francis’ promise to deliver an apology in person on Canadian soil.

Francis recalled that during in April, one of the delegations gave him a set of beaded moccasins as a symbol of the children who never returned from the schools, and asked him to return them in Canada. Francis said in these months they had “kept alive my sense of sorrow, indignation and shame” but that in returning them he hoped they could also represent a path to walk together.

Event organizers said they would do everything possible to make sure survivors could attend the event, busing them in and offering mental health counselors to be on hand knowing that the event could be traumatic for some.

Francis acknowledged that the memories could trigger old wounds, and that even his mere presence there could be traumatic, but he said remembering was important to prevent indifference.

“It is necessary to remember how the policies of assimilation and enfranchisement, which also included the residential school system, were devastating for the people of these lands,” he said.

Later Monday, Francis was scheduled to visit Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples, a Catholic parish in Edmonton oriented toward Indigenous people and culture. The church, whose sanctuary was dedicated last week after being restored from a fire, incorporates Indigenous language and customs in liturgy. 

(Courtesy: NPR: https://www.npr.org/2022/07/25/1113378991/pope-apology-canada-indigenous-schools)

“I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples,” Pope Francis said during a visit to Canada on July 25th

Pope Francis issued a historic apology on July 25^th for the Catholic Church’s cooperation with Canada’s “catastrophic” policy of Indigenous residential schools, saying the forced assimilation of Native peoples into Christian society destroyed their cultures, severed families and marginalized generations in ways still being felt today.

“I am sorry,” Francis said, to applause from school survivors and Indigenous community members gathered at a former residential school south of Edmonton, Alberta, the first event of Francis’ weeklong “penitential pilgrimage” to Canada.

The morning after he arrived in the country, Francis traveled to the lands of four Cree nations to pray at a cemetery. Four chiefs then escorted the pontiff in his wheelchair to powwow ceremonial grounds where he delivered the long-sought apology and was given a feathered headdress.

“I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples,” Francis said near the site of the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School, now largely torn down.

His words went beyond his earlier apology for the “deplorable” acts of missionaries and instead took responsibility for the church’s institutional cooperation with the “catastrophic” assimilation policy, which Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission said amounted to a “cultural genocide.”

More than 150,000 native children in Canada were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools from the 19th century until the 1970s in an effort to isolate them from the influence of their homes and culture. The aim was to Christianize and assimilate them into mainstream society, which previous Canadian governments considered superior.

The Canadian government has admitted that physical and sexual abuse was rampant at the schools, with students beaten for speaking their native languages. That legacy of that abuse and isolation from family has been cited by Indigenous leaders as a root cause of the epidemic rates of alcohol and drug addiction now on Canadian reservations.

The discoveries of hundreds of potential burial sites at former schools in the past year drew international attention to the legacy of the schools in Canada and their counterparts in the United States. The discoveries prompted Francis to comply with the truth commission’s call for him to apologize on Canadian soil for the Catholic Church’s role; Catholic religious orders operated 66 of the 139 schools in Canada.

Many in the crowd Monday wore traditional dress, including colorful ribbon skirts and vests with Native motifs. Others donned orange shirts, which have become a symbol of residential school survivors, recalling the story of one woman whose favorite orange shirt, a gift from her grandmother, was confiscated when she arrived at a school and replaced with a uniform.

Despite the solemnity of the event, the atmosphere seemed at times joyful: Chiefs processed into the site venue to a hypnotic drumbeat, elders danced and the crowd cheered and chanted war songs, victory songs and finally a healing song.

One of the hosts of the event, Chief Randy Ermineskin of the Ermineskin Cree Nation, said some had chosen to stay away — and that that was understandable. But he said it was nevertheless a historic, important day for his people.

“My late family members are not here with us anymore, my parents went to residential school, I went to residential school,” he told The Associated Press as he waited for Francis to arrive. “I know they’re with me, they’re listening, they’re watching.”

Felisha Crier Hosein traveled from Florida to attend in the place of her mother, who helped create the museum for the nearby Samson Cree Nation and had planned to attend, but died in May.

“I came here to represent her and to be here for the elders and the community,” said Hosein, who wore one of her mother’s colorful ribbon skirts.

“Sorry is not going to make what happened go away,” she said. “But it means a lot to the elders.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who last year voiced an apology for the “incredibly harmful government policy” in organizing the residential school system, was also attending along with the governor general and other officials.

As part of a lawsuit settlement involving the government, churches and approximately 90,000 survivors, Canada paid reparations that amounted to billions of dollars being transferred to Indigenous communities. Canada’s Catholic Church says its dioceses and religious orders have provided more than $50 million in cash and in-kind contributions and hope to add $30 million more over the next five years.

While the pope acknowledged institutional blame, he also made clear that Catholic missionaries were merely cooperating with and implementing the government policy of assimilation, which he termed the “colonizing mentality of the powers.”

“I ask forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the Church and of religious communities cooperated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools,” he said.

He said the policy marginalized generations, suppressed Indigenous languages, severed families, led to physical, verbal, psychological and spiritual abuse and “indelibly affected relationships between parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren.” He called for further investigation, a possible reference to Indigenous demands for further access to church records and personnel files of the priests and nuns to identify who was responsible for the abuses.

“Although Christian charity was not absent, and there were many outstanding instances of devotion and care for children, the overall effects of the policies linked to the residential schools were catastrophic,” Francis said. ” What our Christian faith tells us is that this was a disastrous error, incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The first pope from the Americas was determined to make this trip, even though torn knee ligaments forced him to cancel a visit to Africa earlier this month.

The six-day visit — which will also include other former school sites in Alberta, Quebec City and Iqaluit, Nunavut, in the far north — follows meetings Francis held in the spring at the Vatican with delegations from the First Nations, Metis and Inuit. Those meetings culminated with an April 1 apology for the “deplorable” abuses committed by some Catholic missionaries in residential schools and Francis’ promise to deliver an apology in person on Canadian soil.

Francis recalled that during in April, one of the delegations gave him a set of beaded moccasins as a symbol of the children who never returned from the schools, and asked him to return them in Canada. Francis said in these months they had “kept alive my sense of sorrow, indignation and shame” but that in returning them he hoped they could also represent a path to walk together.

Event organizers said they would do everything possible to make sure survivors could attend the event, busing them in and offering mental health counselors to be on hand knowing that the event could be traumatic for some.

Francis acknowledged that the memories could trigger old wounds, and that even his mere presence there could be traumatic, but he said remembering was important to prevent indifference.

“It is necessary to remember how the policies of assimilation and enfranchisement, which also included the residential school system, were devastating for the people of these lands,” he said.

Later Monday, Francis was scheduled to visit Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples, a Catholic parish in Edmonton oriented toward Indigenous people and culture. The church, whose sanctuary was dedicated last week after being restored from a fire, incorporates Indigenous language and customs in liturgy.

(Courtesy: NPR: https://www.npr.org/2022/07/25/1113378991/pope-apology-canada-indigenous-schools)

(RNS) — While Pope Francis said he has “no intention of resigning,” he laid out a broad view of what it would look like if he stepped down as pontiff in a long interview published on Tuesday (July 12). Francis also weighed in on many hot button topics in America, from abortion to mass shootings and drug trafficking.

The pope told the Mexican media outlet TelevisaUnivision that his knee troubles, which forced him to use a wheelchair for a short time, raised concerns he might not be able to perform his papal duties. “It’s getting better. Now I can walk,” he said. “But it never occurred to me to quit.”

Francis admitted his health struggles have “certainly limited” him in his role recently, namely in leading him to postpone a planned trip to two countries in Africa, but he insisted he has no intention of stepping down at the moment.

He did say that if he were no longer able to perform his duties, or if “I become a hindrance,” he would follow in the example of his predecessor Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pope to resign in 600 years.

“I hope that the strength of that example will help me make the decision,” he said. Pope Francis spoke highly of Benedict, who having added the title emeritus to his name continues to wear the white clothing of the pontiffs and lives in a monastery in the Vatican. “That man is supporting the church with his kindness and with his retirement,” he said.

According to Francis, the precedent set by Benedict does open the door for popes to resign — but with that possibility comes the need “to delineate things more” and create explicit guidelines for the role of the emeritus pope, he said, calling the initial framework created by Benedict a “first step.”

But Francis said if he were to retire, he would would not remain at the Vatican but would instead return to the retirement plan he’d laid out before being elected pope, spending the rest of his days as bishop emeritus in a home for priests in a Roman parish, living “in service to the people.”

“If I survive, I would like something like this: Confess and go see the sick,” Francis said.

In the two-hour interview, Francis also touched on a number of pressing issues concerning the United States, especially abortion, which has taken center stage after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, handing decisions around legalizing abortion back to the states.

While admitting he’s not knowledgeable on the U.S. legal system, Francis asked: “Is it fair to take a human life to solve a problem? Whatever it is? Is it fair to hire a hit man to eliminate a human life?” The pope referenced scientific research he said shows that “one month after conception, the DNA is already there,” while adding his position on this issue is “nonnegotiable.”

But the pontiff noted how polarizing the issue is and the risk of losing sight of the pastoral and human dimension, especially when clergy turn it into a “political problem.” Some conservative bishops in the United States have denied Communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, including President Joe Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, while encouraging others to follow their lead.

Concerning whether a politician supporting abortion rights should take Communion, Francis said he leaves it “to your conscience,” and a politician should “speak with his bishop, with his pastor, with his parish priest, about that inconsistency.” The pope added that faithful are more confused by the political attitude of bishops who are “so focused on an issue they can’t see past their own nose.”

The pope also addressed the recent mass shootings in the United States, including the Independence Day parade shooting near Chicago, pointing to the “serious social problem” that led these young men to commit such acts of violence. Francis called such actions “diabolical” and questioned why “young people are so dissatisfied that they feel fulfilled only by destroying.”

The proliferation of weapons is tied to the culture of war, the pope said, and raises the question of how to monitor the sale of weapons. This culture of violence permeates all societies, he added, including the drug cartels in Mexico where many priests are killed every year.

While the war in Ukraine has garnered global attention, the pope said, “for years we have been living the Third World War in bits, in chapters, with wars everywhere.” Asked why he didn’t directly condemn Russia and its leader, President Vladimir Putin, for the aggression, the pope said he prefers “to talk about the victims rather than the perpetrators.”

Accusing Russia “is not a way to keep the door open to someone’s conscience,” he continued, adding that he “laughs” when detractors accuse him of being pro-Putin. “People’s ability to express their opinion has no limit,” he said, adding such pronouncements are more often than not a response to the latest message they saw on Twitter.

The pope said he still plans to visit the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv “soon” and plans to meet with the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill during a religious meeting in Kazakhstan in September. Francis also said he plans to apologize to the Indigenous peoples when he visits Canada July 24-31 for the “cruelty” of those who tried to eliminate their culture, including Catholic clergy.

On the question of the inclusion of women in the Vatican offices that make up the Roman Curia, Francis said “the door is open” for a woman to one day occupy the second highest position at the Vatican as secretary of state. Francis’ new apostolic constitution, “Praedicate Evangelium” (Preach the Gospel), allows for lay individuals to lead Vatican offices and departments.

The pope also said “the pot has been uncovered” concerning the sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults in the Catholic Church, but the problem will persist as long as we live in a society where people continue to be physically and psychologically abused.

Francis also touched on the subject of human traffiking and migration, urging people to show compassion and avoid generalizations. “Human dramas have a face,” the pope said. “Let’s make decisions by looking at the faces of those people.”

(RNS) — In defiance of some U.S. bishops, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi reportedly received Communion during a Mass presided over by Pope Francis on Wednesday (June 29) for the celebration of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone announced June 1 that the Catholic congresswoman is banned from receiving Communion in her home diocese of San Francisco due to her abortion rights stance. Since then, she has been barred from receiving the sacrament in four dioceses.

Pelosi called the recent pronouncement by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade an “outrageous and heart-wrenching” decision. The U.S. Catholic bishops lauded the court’s decision, which they said overturned “an unjust law that has permitted some to decide whether others can live or die.”

Pelosi met with Francis on Wednesday before the service and received a blessing, according to one of the Mass attendees.

Sitting in the VIP section during the traditional Mass at St. Peter’s to celebrate the patron saints of Rome, Pelosi listened to Pope Francis’ homily before receiving Communion from one of the many priests in the basilica, according to eyewitnesses. Francis has rarely distributed Communion, citing precisely the desire to prevent politicization of the sacrament.

Last year, President Joe Biden, another Catholic who also supports abortion rights, said after meeting with Francis that the pontiff told him to continue receiving the sacrament. Biden later received Communion during a Mass in a Rome church that is under the authority of Francis as bishop of Rome.

In his homily, Francis urged faithful to “Go to the crossroads and bring everyone: blind, deaf, lame, sick, righteous, sinful, everyone, everyone! This word of the Lord must resound, resound in the mind and heart: everyone! In the church there is room for everyone,” adding that “many times we become a church with open doors but to dismiss people, to condemn people.”

Last year, Pope Francis told reporters on his return flight from Central Europe that he has never denied Communion to anyone and criticized bishops who didn’t act as shepherds and “aligned themselves with political life, on political problems.” The Vatican’s doctrinal department, in a letter in May of last year, urged the U.S. bishops to engage in dialogue among themselves and with Catholic politicians before reaching any decision.

During the Mass on Wednesday, Pope Francis blessed the palliums, the liturgical vestments, of new metropolitan archbishops. He told the archbishops in attendance to “fight the good fight,” but to do so with the entirety of the faithful, without considering themselves superior.

After the Mass, Pelosi met with representatives of the Catholic charitable movement Sant’Egidio, where she spoke in support of Ukrainian refugees and made a donation of $25,000.

During his Angelus prayer before faithful at St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis also addressed the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, saying he prays “this senseless war may soon see an end” and hopes the Lord will “open those paths of dialogue that men are unwilling or unable to find.” He then encouraged aid to the Ukrainian people, “who are suffering so much.”

Pelosi was present at a diplomatic reception at the residence of the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See on Tuesday evening, marking America’s upcoming Independence Day.

Speaking to a crowd of ambassadors, Vatican officials and other Rome-based Americans, Pelosi spoke about the Catholic virtues of faith, hope and charity and the important roles they play in the U.S. Embassy’s mission.

“Faith is an important gift. Not everyone has it but it is the path to so many other things,” she told the crowd.

As Pelosi left the event, a demonstrator from the American Academy in front of the Embassy shone light on a banner reading “Abortion Rights are Human Rights.” (The Associated Press contributed to this story)

(RNS) — Pope Francis issued a new document on Wednesday (June 29) aimed at promoting the “rediscovery” of the Catholic Church’s Eucharistic liturgy celebrated at Mass to protect it from ideological influences.

“With this letter I simply want to invite the whole Church to rediscover, to safeguard, and to live the truth and power of the Christian celebration,” Francis wrote, without it being “spoiled by a superficial and foreshortened understanding of its value or, worse yet,” he added, “exploited in service of some ideological vision, no matter what the hue.”

The document, titled “Desiderio Desideravi,” a Latin phrase meaning “Ardently Desire,” also pushes back against proponents of the Old Latin Mass, or Tridentine Rite, which was swapped in favor of the vernacular Mass instituted by the 1963-65 Second Vatican Council.

A year ago, Francis reintroduced the restrictions on celebrating the Old Latin Mass, which had been allowed by his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI in 2007. Unlike that document, which was aimed at bishops and priests, “Desiderio Desideravi” is addressed to all the Catholic faithful.  

The beauty of the liturgy, Francis wrote, is not about “the search for a ritual aesthetic” that focuses on “a careful exterior observance of a rite” or “a scrupulous observance of the rubrics.” Nor does the pontiff wish for the Catholic Mass to be reduced to “a careless banality” or “ignorant superficiality.”

Akin to an artistic performance, the liturgy must be rehearsed and carefully prepared, the pope wrote, so that faithful may participate in wonder at the sacrament in which, Catholics believe, the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus.

“But even if the quality and the proper action of the celebration were guaranteed, that would not be enough to make our participation full,” the document states.

Some conservative prelates and lay people have championed the pre-Vatican II Latin rite to express dissent against Francis, who they believe is furthering secularization in the church. Proponents of the old rite claim that the incense-filled and shimmering-gold celebrations function as a pull toward the divine, dismissing today’s liturgy as too austere.

“If the reform has eliminated that vague ‘sense of mystery,’ then more than a cause for accusations, it is to its credit,” Francis wrote. “Beauty, just like truth, always engenders wonder, and when these are referred to the mystery of God, they lead to adoration.”

In this April 12, 2020, file photo, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone celebrates Easter Mass, which was livestreamed, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

The new document appeared just as several prominent conservative cardinals and bishops attended a conference on Catholic liturgy at St. Patrick’s Seminary in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, whose leader, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, has been at odds with Francis’ policy of giving Communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights. 

Participants at the June 28-July 1 meeting, titled “Sacred Liturgy,” include Cardinal Robert Sarah, a retired West African prelate who until last year headed the Vatican’s liturgy department, and Cardinal George Pell, an Australian who stepped down as the Vatican’s financial reform czar in 2020 to successfully defend himself against sexual abuse charges. Both have been critics of Francis.

The document released Wednesday directly addresses the factionalism over the Latin Mass. “Behind the battles concerning rite, in the end, are hidden differing views of the church,” wrote Andrea Tornielli, the head of the Vatican communications department, in an article accompanying the document.

Francis himself voices dismay in “Desiderio Desideravi” at the pushback that Vatican II still meets today. As pope he has cautiously but determinedly opened the church and the Eucharist to divorced and remarried couples, people who have had abortions and, most recently, politicians who support abortion rights.

“The world still does not know it, but everyone is invited to the supper of the wedding of the Lamb,” the pope said in the document, alluding to a passage in the New Testament’s Book of Revelation. “To be admitted to the feast all that is required is the wedding garment of faith which comes from the hearing of his Word.”

Francis underlined that the liturgy “has nothing to do with an ascetical moralism.” The phrase “ardently desire” is itself a quote from the Gospel of Luke describing Jesus’ wish to share Passover, one of the bases for the Mass, with his apostles.

The pope also offered some cautionary words for priests who put themselves at the center of the liturgy, cautioning them against “a heightened personalism of the celebrating style which at times expresses a poorly concealed mania to be the center of attention.”

This is especially the case when Masses are celebrated online, the pope wrote, a phenomenon that has grown in popularity since the onset of the pandemic.

The liturgy is about placing “the other” first, the pope wrote, and while it has been studied by scholars, Francis wrote, it should be offered “in an accessible way, so that each one of the faithful might grow in a knowledge of the theological sense of the Liturgy.”

The pope also reminded his readers that the Second Vatican Council moved with the full authority of the church. “We cannot go back to that ritual form which the Council fathers (…) felt the need to reform, approving, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and following their conscience as pastors, the principles from which was born the reform,” Pope Francis concluded.

“Let us abandon our polemics to listen together to what the Spirit is saying to the Church. Let us safeguard our communion. Let us continue to be astonished at the beauty of the Liturgy,” he added.

The India government is committed to spread the teaching of Lord Buddha in every corner of the world, said Union Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy on Monday. He was speaking at an event to celebrate Vaishakh Buddha Poornima here.

On the occasion of the 2,566th Vaishakh Buddha Poornima, also called the Triple Day of Vesak to mark the day of Lord Buddha’s birth, enlightenment & passing, the Ministry of Culture with its grantee body ‘International Buddhist Confederation’ organised the function in New Delhi. The programme showcased the life and teachings of Gautam Buddha.

“Buddha’s followers are spread across the world, but around 90 per cent of them are from Southeast Asia and East Asia. Buddhists visit India as pilgrimage from every corner of the world. We are working to bring 25 lakh Buddhists every year in India,” said Reddy.

He said that Indian government is working on mission mode with state governments to develop Buddha Circuit.

Under this circuit, different types of activities like connectivity, infrastructure development, logistics, cultural research centre, heritage, communications are being undertaken on mission mode, he added.

“During the US visit in September 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought 157 artefacts and antiquities. Out of total artefacts brought back, 16 relate to Buddhism. We want to bring all artefacts and antiquities related to Buddhism India from wherever they are,” said the Culture Minister.

Talking about the teachings of Buddha, Reddy said that it teaches us to respect the nature.

“His teachings show the path that goes beyond sorrow and grief and inspire to be an ideal man,” he added.

“Any country, small or big, aspires to become a powerful nation, only path is to follow the teachings of Buddha. Buddha’s path is universal path which is middle path,” said Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, who was also present on the occasion. (IANS)