- Sri Lanka – Amid a worsening economic crisis in Sri Lanka, Catholic bishops, priests and nuns joined street protests with thousands of people in capital Colombo.
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo along with two bishops and hundreds of priests and nuns joined protesters seeking the resignation of embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday.
Church leaders said they were expressing solidarity with people demanding the president and his 225 parliamentarians must quit, while money stolen by politicians from the country must be returned.
Although the unrest has forced more than half of the government’s ministers to resign, Rajapaksa has refused to quit. A drastic decline in foreign reserves has fueled an extreme shortage of daily essential goods and fuel, with daily power blackouts across Sri Lanka
- India – Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of India has admitted an appeal by Cardinal George Alencherry to discharge him from criminal cases related to the sale of church land in Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese in Kerala.Cardinal Alencherry, the head of the Eastern-rite Syro-Malabar Church, is seeking to quash the order of Kerala High Court delivered in August 2021. The court ordered him to face trial on seven criminal charges in connection with controversial land deals that incurred a loss of 10 million US dollars for the church.
- Bangladesh – Police in Bangladesh arrested a Muslim man who vandalized statues of Jesus, Mother Mary and Saint Teresa at a Catholic church in Joypurhat district in Rajshahi Diocese.
The 22-year-old man also wrecked a copy of the Bible during the attack on Sunday. Local Catholics confronted the man and handed him over to police. Muslim villagers claimed the youth is mentally challenged.
Police said an investigation is underway to find the truth and initiate legal action. Church leaders have strongly condemned the attack and called for justice. Christians said the attack has spread fear in the local community.
Bangladesh was long known as a moderate Muslim country. However, since 2013 it has seen an upsurge in Islamic militancy that has claimed about 50 lives including atheist bloggers, writers, foreigners and religious minorities.
- China – Two watchdogs have highlighted an intensified crackdown against members of both authorized and unauthorized religions in communist China under President Xi Jinping.The bipartisan and bicameral US Congressional-Executive Commission on China released its annual report documenting what it calls “the horrors the Chinese government and Communist Party perpetrate against the Chinese people.”It pointed out that suffering of all religious groups has gone from “bad to worse” in China, adding that the Chinese regime has used the pretext of the Covid-19 pandemic to introduce more surveillance targeting all forms of dissent including “illegal” religions.Meanwhile, San Francisco-based Chinese rights group Dui Hua Foundation has also reported a marked increase in repression against some 41 banned religious cult movements in China. The group reported that thousands of cult members have been arrested, jailed and tortured in recent years.
- South Korea – South Korean Christians have joined in prayer, fasting and voluntary activism to raise awareness about the protection of life and to oppose abortion.Christians are observing a global 40-day Prayer for Life campaign from March 2 to April 10. They took to the streets holding placards with pro-life slogans. The participants also distributed a booklet containing texts and pictures with anti-abortion messages and prayer intentions for the end of abortion.
The campaign bears significance for South Korea, which had a high rate of abortion despite a legal ban until 2019. That year the Constitutional Court ruled the criminalization of abortion was illegal.
An upcoming bill seeks to decriminalize abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.
- The Philippines – A Catholic bishop in the Philippines has challenged presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to pay a huge tax bill that his family owed to the government.
Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan, head of Catholic charity Caritas, made the call on Tuesday. The prelate said Marcos must clear the tax bill to prove that he walks his talk of respecting court orders.In 1999, a court ordered the Marcos family to pay 23 billion pesos or 460 million US dollars in taxes on the estate left by dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The total amount has now risen to 203 billion pesos due to interest and penalties. Marcos Jr.’s spokesman Vic Rodriguez brushed the issue aside, saying the case was still pending in court.The heir of the infamous political clan has emerged as the presidential frontrunner in various opinion polls ahead of the presidential election on May 9. - Indonesia – An Indonesian court has sentenced a Christian YouTuber to 10 years in jail for blasphemy and hate speech for insulting Islam and Prophet Muhammad.
Ciamis District Court in West Java province convicted 56-year-old Muhammad Kace, a former Muslim cleric who converted to Christianity, on Wednesday. Before his conversion in 2014, Kace taught in an Islamic seminary and performed the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia three times. Police said he posted at least 400 videos on YouTube insulting Islam.His derogatory comments about Prophet Muhammad in a video posted in August last year went viral and sparked a slew of complaints from Muslims. He was arrested and remained in jail until the court verdict.Jesuit priest Johannes Hariyanto said the sentence was harsh and discriminatory. He pointed out that a day earlier a court in East Jakarta had sentenced hardline Muslim leader Munarman to only three years on grave charges of terrorism.(Via UCA news)
