num. 514 - September 2011

Download

ASIA-OCEANIA

In 2010, the Holy See named Bishop Victor GNANAPRAGASAM as the first bishop of the newly erected Apostolic Vicariate of Quetta. However, when the Oblate was ordained to the episcopacy on July 16, 2010, the ceremony took place in Karachi, the largest city of Pakistan, because of the tensions and conflict in Quetta and in the Province of Baluchistan.

Tensions and conflict continue in the troubled area. On September 7, 2011, two suicide bombers attacked the home and headquarters of a top paramilitary official, killing at least 24 people and wounding 82 others. The windows were shattered in Bishop Victor’s residence and there was damage to the offices of Caritas Pakistan and three Catholic schools.

The Pakistani Taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in reprisal for the arrest of a senior al-Qaida leader by Pakistani security forces.

Oblate Father Cecil PAUL felt the vibration of the blasts in his parish office, located about a kilometer from the targeted site. “Our country has reached the depths of instability now. Violence continues unendingly after the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden in the Northern Province.” he said.

It has also been reported that al-Qaida is kidnapping wealthy Christians and holding them for ransom to finance their own projects.

Peace and minority rights are illusory even two years after the end of a 30-year civil war, the secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference said on September 3.

“Minority rights were not respected by the majority of the people. Most of them do not like to accept the multi-language, multi-religion and multicultural solution, even after three decades of war,” said Bishop Norbert ANDRADI.

He was speaking at the Oblate-run Center for Society and Religion (CSR) in Colombo.

“We cannot simply bury the past and then expect to find true peace,” he said.

“We have to learn to deal with our past and our hurt. We need to learn from our mistakes. As a result, it has become a challenge to work for a sustainable peace in the country.

“The attitude of welcoming different opinions and thinking of others is decreasing now.”

“We should question the relationship between the security forces and the politicians. Politicians try to take the law and order into their hands. So we should create a society beyond the political influences,” Andradi said in front of more than 250 rights activists, Christian priests and nuns celebrating the 40^th anniversary of CSR. (www.ucanews.com)

A prayer composed by an Oblate who was murdered in Sri Lanka was carried into outer space on the last flight of the space shuttle program of the United States. And it all ties back to St. Eugene College, a school in the Oblate parish of St. Eugene de Mazenod in the Archdiocese of Brisbane.

The St Eugene College Prayer which is based on the oblation prayer of slain Sri Lankan Oblate Fr Mike Rodrigo (assassinated in 1987 while celebrating Mass), has been carried into space.

A former parent and parishioner of St Eugene Parish and College, Margie Carlile, who now lives in the USA, entered and was successful in two lotteries to see the space shuttle launch and then to give the astronauts something they would carry into space. Guess what Margie entered?

“Andrew and I were so fortunate to receive tickets to Cape Canaveral, NASA, to see the final launching of the shuttle, I also entered a lottery whereby you could try to have something taken into space on the launch, and I was asked to submit the prayer; it seems as if it was taken up up and away!!” (Paul SMITHERS)

On August 7-12, sixteen Oblates from the Sri Lankan provinces of Jaffna and Colombo, as well as from Bangladesh, Japan and India participated in the VIVAT International workshop in Indore, India along with over 100 other religious. Also present were the Director of the JPIC General Service, Fr. Camille PICHE and the Oblates’ representative at the United Nations in New York, Fr. Daniel LEBLANC.

The participants deliberated on missionary concerns for JPIC and the role of VIVAT International, an organized network of all the members of eight men and women religious congregations, whose work, expertise, and experience has a direct bearing on issues related to social justice, development, peace and ecology.

Reports given during the workshop included the following areas of JPIC activities: HIV /AIDS treatment, prevention and rehabilitation; street children; the rights of Indigenous Peoples; land alienation and tribal lands; children, women and domestics; people affected by leprosy; physically challenged persons; waste pickers and migrant workers. Also mentioned were initiatives for income generation, vocational training, etc. There were also special reports on the conflict in the Middle East (Palestinian Rights), Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

Some of the workshop presentations found inspiration in the biblical notion of justice This biblical concept is founded on the belief that “we all are created in the image and likeness of God and so endowed with dignity and integrity.” The biblical concept of peace is both personal and social. Biblical peace is the result of justice. It is a restored relationship between God and humans and among human beings.

Other presentations focused on the social teaching of the Church, particularly as found in papal encyclicals and the World Synod of Bishops on social justice (1971). One of the recent encyclicals of Pope Benedict XVI, “Caritas in Veritate,” provided food for thought. In tune with the workshop’s theme, the analysis of the encyclical on present day poverty, economic meltdown and environmental destruction were highlighted. The Pope notes that the prevailing situation in the world is a result of moral degradation, disrespect for life and a lack of solidarity. In order to build a just and peaceful society, we need to revitalize ourselves with values that enhance life in truth and charity. World leaders have a responsibility towards the regeneration of our world.

In order to begin a process of choosing preferred areas of JPIC work as members of VIVAT International, in view of advocacy and networking at the national level, the members identified a large number of issues out of which five were prioritized:

1. Human rights of domestic and migrant workers;
2. Children’s rights;
3. Food security;
4. Dalit Christians’ Constitutional Rights (the Dalit are an oppressed caste in South Asia);
5. Mining and displacement.