RELIGION TODAY

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Religion Today Summaries - May 1, 2009
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff
Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.

In today's edition:

    * Opponents: Gay Hate Crimes Bill Could Target Churches
    * Two Pakistani Christians Die after Taliban Attack
    * India: Christians Vote, Hope for Change in Elections
    * Rival Anglican Body Approves Dioceses; Finalizes Plans

Opponents: Gay Hate Crimes Bill Could Target Churches

Baptist Press reports that a bill extending hate crimes protections to homosexuals and transgendered individuals has been approved in the House of Representatives and faces little opposition in the Senate. "This bill puts Christians and many other religious groups in the government's crosshairs," said Barrett Duke, a vice president with the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. "While we should never condone acts of violence against anyone, for whatever reason... this bill proposes to prosecute someone based on their belief about homosexuality and therefore makes religious belief a germane issue in this debate." Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern, called the bill "a backdoor tool... to shut down legitimate free speech from Christians and others who oppose their lifestyle." He told the Christian Post, "Pastors in Europe and Canada have already been arrested for preaching against homosexuality based on similar legislation."

Two Pakistani Christians Die after Taliban Attack

ASSIST News Service reports that two Christian teenagers have died from gunshot wounds sustained in a protest against Taliban advances on April 22. Police allegedly fired at the boys -- Imran Masih, 13, and Intikhab Masih, 18 -- during the incident. Former Member of Provincial Assembly Sindh, Michael Javaid said that militants had allegedly forced Christian residents of Taseer town to shout slogans "Taliban Zindabad" (Long Live Taliban) and "Islam Zindabad" (Long Live Islam). He said when Christian residents refused to chant slogans the militants made forcible entry into the church, desecrating the Bible and looting other Christian homes. Javaid has demanded the government provide security and protection for Christians in the area. A committee has been formed to probe the April 22 incident.

India: Christians Vote, Hope for Change in Elections

Mission News Network reports believers in Orissa, India, helped jumpstart India's national elections April 16, voting in relative peace after months of extremist attacks. Some Christians, especially those living in relief camps after their homes were destroyed, had feared they would not be able to vote. However, officials said they began elections in Orissa state to allow increased security on the area, which has been plagued by anti-Christian violence since fall 2008. "This is kind of a historic thing where in the past, things like this would bring fear and keep the Christians from voting," says Danny Punnose of Gospel for Asia. "But this is going to bring a very loud statement to those in power that you cannot hurt minorities without repercussions taking place." Elections continue in other states until May 16.

Rival Anglican Body Approves Dioceses; Finalizes Plans

The Christian Post reports that a group of breakaway parishes in Canada have joined the newly-formed Anglicans Church in North America (ACNA). The Anglican Network in Canada, which split from the more theologically liberal Anglican Church of Canada, will become the 28th diocese for the new province. "It is a great encouragement to see the fruit of many years' work," said the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, who is expected to head the ACNA, on Saturday. "Today 23 dioceses and five dioceses-in-formation joined together to reconstitute an orthodox, Biblical, missionary and united Church in North America." The ACNA, formed in 2008, represents about 700 breakaway parishes and 100,000 Anglicans. The body has yet to be formally recognized by the entire Anglican Communion and church's spiritual head, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

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Stakes High for Christians in India's Elections - Page 1
Vishal Arora


May 4, 2009

NEW DELHI (Compass Direct News) -- With elections underway in India, its 2.3 percent Christian minority -- which faced a deadly spate of attacks in the eastern state of Orissa last year -- is praying for a secular party to come to power.

Along with the Muslim community, Christians fear that if the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies form the next government or an ideologically loose coalition comes to the helm, their already compromised welfare may further deteriorate.

Dr. John Dayal, secretary general of the All India Christian Council, said that the end of the Congress Party's monopoly on power in the 1990s led to the rise of several major individual groups, including the BJP, political wing of the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) conglomerate.

"The rise of regional and linguistic or caste-based parties spells a danger for pan-national minorities, as parties with a narrow and localized outlook will have neither the strength nor the political need to come to their defense," Dayal told Compass. "What is at stake now, as never before, is the stability and consistency of India's constitutional institutions in their response to critical situations, their zeal to correct wrongs and their commitment to the welfare of the weakest and the lowest."

Religious minorities, Dayal said, were hoping for a strong showing by a secular party, "possibly the Congress [Party]," supported by regional groups of a secular character.

"Personally, I would even welcome a Third Front [a grouping of anti-Congress Party and anti-BJP parties led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist] government supported by the Congress Party," he added. "Certainly, a BJP-led government is the least desirable, as we fear major erosion and even regression in issues of freedom of faith, Dalit liberation and affirmative action for the poor."

With the BJP in power, directly or as part of the ruling alliance, in 10 states -- Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Punjab in the north; Chhattisgarh and Bihar in the east; Gujarat in the west; Nagaland and Meghalaya in the northeast; and Karnataka in the south -- he said Christians believe it is important that a strong, secular government comes into power at the federal level.

The federal government can issue warnings and ultimately dismiss state legislatures and state executives if they fail to protect the lives of their people or major unrest erupts. The federal government can also make laws applicable across the nation.

The BJP-ruled states have become "absolutely inhospitable" and "hostile" to Christians thanks to the "inaction of the federal government," said Sajan K. George, national president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC).

Orissa, Andhra Pradesh

The eyes of Christians are also on state assembly elections in Orissa state.

Orissa is ruled by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which on March 7 broke its 11-year-old alliance with the BJP over the latter's involvement in Kandhamal district violence. Elections in Orissa, held on April 16 and 23, are particularly important given that the results will either embolden Hindu nationalists to launch more attacks to polarize voters along religious lines or compel them to abstain from violence.

In December 2007, a series of brutal attacks began in Kandhamal. The violence that lasted for around 10 days killed at least four Christians and burned 730 houses and 95 churches under the pretext of avenging an alleged attack on Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council).

Violence re-erupted in the district following the killing of Saraswati on August 23, 2008. A Maoist group took responsibility for the murder, but BJP supporters claimed that Christians were behind the assassination.

The BJP has made the killing of Saraswati its main election plank. The party's two candidates from Kandhamal -- Manoj Pradhan for the G. Udaygiri assembly seat and Ashok Sahu for the Kandhamal parliamentary constituency -- contested the elections from jail. Pradhan, a primary suspect in the August-September 2008 violence, has been in jail for the last few months. Sahu, a former senior police official, was arrested on April 14 for delivering a hate speech against Christians in the run-up to elections. He was released on bail on April 17.

In its election campaign, the BJD promised to provide protection to the Christian community in Kandhamal and elsewhere in the state, putting the blame of the Kandhamal violence entirely on the BJP.

"It was important to break up with the BJP because I don't consider them healthy any longer for my state after Kandhamal -- which I think is very apparent to everyone," Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told CNN-IBN on April 19. "Before Kandhamal, we were lucky in the early years of the state government not to have a serious communal problem at all. But Kandhamal was very tragic and serious."

According to the CNN-IBN private news channel, the Congress Party could benefit from the divorce of the BJD and the BJP. Nevertheless, the BJD is expected to form the next state government in Orissa.

The Congress Party, on the other hand, blamed both the BJD and the BJP for last year's violence.

Elections in Kandhamal took place despite the fact that over 3,000 Christians were still in relief camps and hundreds of others had fled to others parts of the state fearing more tensions. Father Ajay Kumar Singh of the Catholic Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar reached Kandhamal from the neighboring Gajapati district early on April 16, election day.

"Along the way, we came across numerous felled trees blocking the road in at least six places," Fr. Singh told Compass. "The roads were deserted, and my colleagues and I were scared. But we somehow managed to reach Kandhamal."

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Stakes High for Christians in India's Elections - Page 2
Vishal Arora

He added that in Dharampur in Raikia Block and in Kattingia near Tiangia in G. Udaygiri Block -- where eight Christians were killed during last year's violence -- Christians were threatened if they did not vote for the BJP.

In Nilungia village, seven kilometers (four miles) from G. Udaygiri, where a Christian was killed, at least 40 Christians did not cast their votes out of fear of a backlash, Fr. Singh said.

"They feared tensions if they returned to their village and stayed out of the district," he said.

The Catholic Church in Orissa had urged the Election Commission of India to postpone elections in Kandhamal, but polls were held as scheduled.

According to the district administration, the poll turnout on April 16 in Kandhamal was around 55 percent.

The violence following Saraswati's murder lasted for over a month, killing more than 127 people and destroying 315 villages, 4,640 houses, 252 churches and 13 educational institutions, besides rendering more than 50,000 homeless.

The incidence of Christian persecution is high in Andhra Pradesh, too. Analysts anticipate a neck-to-neck competition between the ruling Congress Party and the regional Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which recently allied with Left parties in the Third Front. The BJP is also in the fray but doesn't appear strong enough to stake claim to power in the state.

Obscure Prognosis

With election results not due until May 16, the outlook at this point is murky.

"About all that can be said with certainty in the resulting alphabet soup of political parties is that the BJP won't be aligning with Congress, or with the Left. Beyond that it's a numbers game," The Times of India noted in an editorial today. "Most observers agree that alignments determining who will form the next government will be decided only after the elections."

The national daily added, "As India's long, hot election summer grinds on, with the third phase held yesterday and the fifth and final phase not scheduled before the 13th of this month, it's regrettable that no overarching themes have emerged even at this late stage, which can define the election."

With 714 million eligible voters of the more than 1 billion people in the country, the five-phase elections for the 15th Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) and for the state assemblies of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and the north-eastern state of Sikkim began on April 16.

The three main parties are the left-of-center Congress Party (officially known as the Indian National Congress), which leads the governing United Progressive Alliance (UPA); the Hindu nationalist BJP, a leading party of the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA); and the Third Front.

A party and its allies need 272 members to rule in the 545-member Lok Sabha.

Expediency over Ideology

The regional and caste parties involved include the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), headed by Dalit (formerly "untouchable") woman Mayawati, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state in the north; and the Samajwadi Party (SP), also a powerful party in that state.

Other significant parties are the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party in the eastern state of Bihar; the BJD in Orissa; the Trinamool Congress party in the eastern state of West Bengal; the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Shiv Sena party in the western state of Maharashtra; the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party in the southern state of Tamil Nadu; the TDP and Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) party in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) party in the southern state of Karnataka.

The Congress Party is hoping that it will be supported by the SP, the RJD, the Trinamool Congress party, the NCP, the DMK, and the TRS in case it emerges as the single-largest party post-elections. The JD-U, the Shiv Sena and the AIADMK, on the other hand, are likely to extend their support to the BJP-led NDA. The BSP, the BJD, the TDP, and the JD-S are expected to join the Third Front.

Most of these smaller parties, however, are keeping their options open and will formally declare their allegiances only after the results are announced on May 16.

Decade of Persecution

The concern of Indian Christians can be understood against the backdrop of the decade since 1998, when the BJP, under the aegis of the NDA, came into power at the federal level, marking the beginning of systematic persecution of Christians.

In January 1999, an Australian missionary, Graham Staines, and his two young sons were burned alive in Orissa's Keonjhar district. From 2000 to 2004, around 200 anti-Christian attacks were reported each year from various parts of the nations. In March 2004, India's second massive spate of anti-Christian attacks took place in the Jhabua district of the central state of Madhya Pradesh.

The incidence of persecution remained high despite the change of the federal government in mid-2004 -- after the Congress Party-led UPA defeated the BJP-led NDA.

At least 165 anti-Christian attacks were reported in 2005, and over 130 in 2006. Including the Orissa attacks, the total number of violent anti-Christian incidents rose to over 1,000 in 2007. And 2008 turned out to be the worst year for the Christians as violence returned in Kandhamal.

"The results of the elections on May 16 will show whether the ideology of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the father of the nation who promoted communal harmony, will prevail in India, or that of his killer Nathuram Godse, allegedly a member of the RSS," said George of the GCIC.

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Religion Today Summaries - May 4, 2009
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.

In today's edition:

    * Swine Flu May Impact Countless Mission Trips
    * So. Baptists Seek Great Commission Resurgence
    * Five Pakistani Christians Arrested for 'Blasphemy'
    * Wheelchair No Obstacle to Passion for Missions

Swine Flu May Impact Countless Mission Trips

Mission News Network reports that fears surrounding swine flu in Mexico may cancel dozens of short-term mission trips to the country this year. As the number of unconfirmed cases reaches into the thousands, trip organizers are proceeding cautiously. "We've been talking to the Youth For Christ Mexico, based in Monterey, very closely, as well as our hosts along the border, and they're watching it as well," said Ministry Advancement Coordinator Jerry Johnson. "Right now we're really in a 'wait and see' mode as far as what this is actually going to do to our trips." Once one of the most popular destinations for short-term trips, organizers had already cut back some trips because of increase drug violence in cities such as Juarez. But Johnson remains hopeful. "There are a lot of young people [in Mexico] who are standing up and filling the gap, if you will."

So. Baptists Seek Great Commission Resurgence

The Christian Post reports that members of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) are ready for a Great Commission Resurgence to rejuvenate their denomination, even as the number of baptisms and members continues to fall.  The declaration calls SBC members to get back to the basics of faith. "What unites us in this movement is not some naive notion that we are all the same or that we all agree on every doctrinal or practical issue that confronts us," wrote Tom Ascol, senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Fla., on his blog Thursday. "Rather, we agree that the gospel is central to any and every Christian effort and that we must not allow anything, no matter how good and noble it might be, to detract from proclamation of that gospel around the world." The declaration has already been signed by SBC president Johnny Hunt and R. Albert Mohler, Jr. of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Five Pakistani Christians Arrested for 'Blasphemy'

ASSIST News Service reports that Christian advocates are condemning the latest arrest of five Pakistani Christians under Pakistan's disputed blasphemy laws. One Christian, Ashfaq Gill, a political worker of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) was accused of tearing up pages of Quran, and writing "unwanted content" on a blackboard at a local primary school. Fearing more trouble from Muslim fundamentalists, Ashfaq's family has gone into hiding, fearing extrajudicial violence even if he is acquitted. Apparently under pressure from fundamentalist Muslims, the Police arrested four other Christians from the area including Naseer Masih, Harris Masih, Israr Masih. Police also arrested guard of the school on suspicion of complicity in the alleged blasphemy of Quran.

Wheelchair No Obstacle to Passion for Missions

Peggy Gentry may be bound to a wheelchair, but her service to Christ knows no bounds, the Baptist Press reports. "The Lord gave me a desire to go, and I just want to keep on going," says Gentry, who has been limited to her wheelchair since she was stricken with multiple sclerosis in 1970. But physical affliction hasn't kept Gentry from staying faithful in her church attendance at First Baptist Church in Aliceville, Ala., and participating in missions trips to Thailand, Guatemala and Venezuela. "Everywhere Peggy went, people marveled that she would come such a long distance in a wheelchair," says Gentry's husband, James. "She's made friends on every trip. People see things in Peggy that change their ways of looking at life."

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Remember Nargis? Myanmar Does, Even If Americans Don't
Tracy Simmons


May 5, 2009

(RNS) -- Nargis is a word the Burmese will never forget. Many Americans, however, would probably have to Google it.

A year after Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), faith-based humanitarian groups are still working to repair the damage, long after the storm faded from U.S. headlines.

Humanitarian groups say they aren't surprised -- even if they remain frustrated -- with Americans' short attention spans when it comes to global natural disasters. The problem, they say, is that the need doesn't go away, even if the media does.

Nargis killed more than 140,000 people, orphaned 60,000 children and caused about $10 billion in damages when it hit on May 2, 2008. But Richard Chio, who has family in Myanmar, said Americans have forgotten about the devastation of his homeland -- where his mother and brother still reside.

"People there are homeless, jobless and have nowhere to go," he said. "They need help right now pretty bad."

Jeff Wright, emergency response manager for World Vision, partly blames the media. "Americans are headline driven," he said, noting that disasters like Cyclone Nargis linger in U.S. news until the next big news event happens.

"The media is also headline driven," he said. "We're so bombarded with media information all that time that it's easy to get distracted."

In many ways, it was the media that first fixed the world's attention on Nargis after Myanmar's military junta declined to accept outside aid. After intense media attention, the government finally relented.

Yet even though his organization's efforts don't make the papers anymore when it comes to Myanmar, World Vision continues to keep staff in the field. And the need hasn't gone away.

Currently World Vision is trying to help the Burmese get their agricultural system up and running again. The Christian aid group also continues to send basic supplies and is trying to protect orphans.

"As with most tragedies, children are at a high risk," he said, explaining that people try to kidnap orphans in order to traffic in them.

Wright said relief efforts in Myanmar are challenging but rewarding, and he tries to keep donors engaged in the region's ongoing phenomenon.

Education, he said, is key.

"We're trying to bring it to the attention of donors," he said. "It's crucial to remain engaged."

But those working in the field need attention too, he said. Working in disheartening conditions can take its toll -- physically, emotionally and spiritually.

"We require people to take some downtime, it's so high pressure," Wright said, explaining that staffers are provided with counseling.

Pastor Wes Flint is also staying active in Myanmar relief efforts -- although his Montana town might not know it. The pastor sits on the board of Vision Beyond Borders, a global Christian relief agency.

He's visited Myanmar three times since the cyclone hit, cleaning up debris, repairing roofs and when possible, mending souls.

"People were really devastated from the cyclone, especially in the Delta region ... some people's entire extended family was washed out to sea," Flint said. "There are a lot of emotional scars."

He said what Americans saw on TV after the cyclone wasn't an accurate representation of the situation anyway. "A lot of it was staged," he said.

Patrick Klein, the founder and director of VBB, has been to Myanmar four times since the cyclone, and said he is energized by the locals.

His organization has hand-delivered 140 duffel bags filled with supplies to the Burmese. They've purchased enough rice seedlings to replant 3,500 acres and have developed a micro-enterprise loan program to help women start small businesses.

"The people there are so grateful for our help," he said.

Michael Wies, who oversees charitable giving and awareness for Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services, said his agency still has Myanmar on its radar, but his office has shifted focus to other areas in need, including Sudan's troubled Darfur region. He explained that they, too, often follow the headlines because that's where the immediate needs are.

However, they don't forget about the areas they've helped and try to continue to serve them. Spokeswoman Liz O'Neill said efforts have now shifted from providing everyday basic necessities to helping rebuild lives.

"Our partners are helping farmers, fishermen and tradespeople as they try to earn a living again," she said. "They're rebuilding roads, dikes and paddy fields. The goal is for families to fully recover from the devastation and become self-reliant again, as they were before Nargis struck."

Since Nargis roared ashore, the U.S. has provided $75 million in aid. The secular group Refugees International is hoping for the U.S. to send another $30 million in 2010. The group's vice president, Joel Charny, reminded Americans not to forget about aging disasters, like Myanmar.

"Even though it isn't in the headlines, we need to put it in front of donors," he said. "More needs to be done."

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Egypt: Killing of Pigs Threatens Coptic-Run Industry
Roger Elliott


May 6, 2009

CAIRO, Egypt (Compass Direct News) -- Authorities yesterday pressed ahead with the slaughter of Egypt's pigs -- crippling the livelihood of thousands of swine breeders, nearly all Coptic Christians -- in spite of World Health Organization (WHO) criticism that the measure was unnecessary for fighting the A(H1-N1) flu strain.

No cases of the so-called "swine flu" have been reported in Egypt, but the government last week ordered the slaughter of the country's pigs as a precautionary measure, which Copts saw as an attack on the minority Christian population. After WHO criticized the move as unnecessary, the government rebranded the slaughter as "a general public health measure."

Egyptian human rights lawyer Nadia Tawfiq told Compass the pig slaughter was a form of attack on Christians.

"All of that business is Christian," she said. "You know that for Muslims, the devil is in the pig."

An estimated 300 to 400 residents of the Manshiyat Nasr area of Cairo, nearly all of them Coptic, took to the streets on Sunday (May 3) and set up blockades to try to keep government teams from removing their animals. The protest took place in an area where mostly Coptic Christian scrap merchants known as zabaleen raise pigs to eke out a living.

The protesters threw stones and bottles at riot police, who reportedly responded with rubber bullets and tear gas. Eight protesters were reportedly hurt, including two that were bloodied as police dragged them away.

An estimated 250,000 mainly poor Christians in Cairo reportedly make their living from collecting garbage and raising pigs in slum areas.

The government's decision to destroy as many as 400,000 pigs was also lambasted by the United Nations as having little no or warrant, fueling speculation that the directive was motivated by the Islamic prohibition of pig consumption and the fact that Egypt's pork industry is run almost entirely by Copts.

"They were not so radical against the birds [during the bird flu scare] as they are now against the pigs," said the president of the Society for the Protection of Animal Rights Egypt, Amina Abaza. "We would like to ask them, 'Why?' Is there a special reason?"

A U.S.-based Coptic rights group has condemned the slaughter as a deliberate targeting of defenseless Christians and a continuation of a long campaign of discrimination against the Coptic community.

"Destroying these families' livelihood without proper compensation is a clear example of discrimination and a violation of human rights, because it directly threatens the existence of an already impoverished population," the Coptic Assembly of America said in a press statement.

Copts make up 10 to 12 percent of Egypt's population, and although the community comprises some of Cairo's richest residents, it also includes some of the nation's poorest.

Those in the pig industry say that the slaughter cannot be justified on health grounds; they note that their livestock are healthy and pose no hygienic threat.

"Health comes first, absolutely," said Helena Morcos of Morcos Charcuteries, a delicatessen with four branches in Cairo and its own small breeding farm. "Health comes before business, money, everything. If it had been proven there was a danger with the pigs, we would have slaughtered them readily."

Animal rights activist Abaza, who is a Muslim, said she has no qualms about protecting pigs and knows likeminded people who are willing to help.

"Why are we so eager to destroy such a fortune and the people who live with their pigs?" she said. "I think we should give them a chance to raise their pigs in better circumstances with better food. I even have persons who are ready to pay for this, and I am one of them."

Ripple Effect

The government has denied that the swine slaughter is related to Muslim prohibitions against pork, saying that more hygienic pig farming will begin in two years using imported animals.

Confusion over proposed compensation for the slaughtered swine was compounded by the sentiment that any amount would not equal the sustained livelihood that breeding pigs provides.

The state-run Al-Ahram newspaper suggested that pig owners would receive 1,000 Egyptian pounds (US$180) per head, but there were varying reports about how much the government would actually pay and under what conditions.

"I called the chief vet, and he said they were paying 100 pounds for a mature pig, and 50 for a baby," said Abaza. "The real cost of a mature animal is 1,000 Egyptian pounds, so look at the loss."

Egypt's agricultural minister has suggested that meat from butchered pigs could be sold, thus rendering compensation unnecessary. This idea is impractical, said pig breeder and delicatessen owner Morcos.

"We are not well experienced in freezing this large an amount of meat," said Morcos. "We are not sure if many storage houses would agree to rent space for the storage of pork."

As pigs are considered "unclean" in Islam, finding that freezer space outside of the Christian community might be hard work. Were this possible, there would still be the problem of a saturated meat market and the resulting fall in profits.

Egyptian officials have begun killing hundreds of pigs and maintain that they will continue the slaughter in spite of international criticism, including WHO's statement that pork is safe to eat.

Girgis Youssef Boulis, head of pork producer Ramsis Meats, told The Associated Press that the slaughter will result in layoffs in the largely Christian-run industry, affecting the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands farmers, producers and meat delivery drivers, among other industry workers.

Although the pig keepers will feel the effects of the slaughter most keenly, Morcos told Compass that businesses such as hers, which offers a wide range of pork products, will also suffer.

"How is this affecting us?" said Morcos. "It could ruin our business."

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North Korea Bride Trafficking: When Escape Becomes Bondage
Kristin Butler


May 7, 2009

The translator could never capture the experience behind Young-Ae Kim's emotional words, but he tried.

"She was raised with the idea that you have one lasting marriage -- never did she imagine that she would be married three times by the age of 30, and treated like an animal."

North Korean defector Young-Ae Kim's told her story publically on April 29, along with Mi-Sun Bang, another woman whose account bears tragic resemblance to hers. Both women told reporters at the National Press Club a story that is becoming all too common among North Korean women. Both women were victims of "Bride Trafficking" -- being bought and sold as wives for single Chinese men along the border between North Korea and China.

Mark Lagon, former U.S. Ambassador at Large for Combating Trafficking and now executive director of the Polaris Project on Human Trafficking, says that these women are "thrice victimized" -- starved in North Korea, sexually exploited once they escape to China and tortured if they are repatriated to their home country.

Brides for Sale

Human trafficking "the fastest growing criminal industry in the world," according to the Polaris Project. In China, years of the one child policy combined with centuries of disregard for girl-children has led to a literal market for refugee women.

Back in the mid-nineties, Tom Hilditch's article, "A Holocaust of Little Girls," captured the essence of a country where girls don't matter.

"The birth of a girl has never been a cause for celebration in China," he wrote, "and stories of peasant farmers drowning new born girls in buckets of water have been commonplace for centuries. Now, however, as a direct result of the one-child policy, the number of baby girls being abandoned, aborted, or dumped on orphanage steps is unprecedented."

It's not hard to connect the dots to where all of this has ended. The shortage of women in China is nothing less than a national disaster -- in some rural areas Chinese men outnumber women by a 14 to 1 ratio, according to the U.S. Committee on Human Rights in North Korea. It is into these rural border areas that North Korean women, desperate to escape the starvation in their homeland, are arriving. For human traffickers, the situation could not be more ideal.

Translating Tears

Mi-Sun Bang cries as she tells of the day that she and her son and daughter attempted an escape from North Korea. The Tumen River ends the lives of many refugees -- numerous bodies have been found along the shore. But for Mi-Sun Bang, there was no choice. Her husband had starved to death in 2002, and making the river escape to China was her only hope for survival. "We entered holding hands," she recalls, "but we were all separated." Miraculously, they survived the crossing.

But her troubles were far from over. Upon entry into China, Mi-Sun Bang fell prey to human traffickers operating on the border. She was sold for $585 to an older, disabled Chinese man, the first of several "husbands" that she would be sold to. The string of abuses and heartache that followed would be enough to crush anyone's spirit. Her final husband, fourteen years her junior, demanded that she bear him a son. Soon afterwards, Mi-Sun Bang was turned into the authorities and arrested. She was sent back to North Korea, to the horrors of a labor camp.

Mi-Sun pauses at this point in her story, reflecting, trying to restrain her emotions. "There, people gave up on being human," she says finally. She was beaten severely. She asks through her translator, "Would anyone like to see my wounds?" Small person that she is, Mi-Sun stands on a chair in the front of the room. She pulls up her skirt, revealing where literal chunks of flesh have been ripped from her leg. She walks with a limp today.

Driven by Desperation

A new report released by the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea captures the firsthand accounts of over 70 trafficking victims. "The women who cross the border, more often than male refugees, tend to do so in the company of others," the Lives for Sale report states, "Eighteen percent of those interviewed crossed the border with people whom they later came to realize were traffickers."

But what about the women who made their escape without the "aid" of a trafficker? The Committee's report emphasizes the likelihood that these women will be solicited immediately. "Almost from the moment they cross the border -- and sometimes beginning in North Korea -- refugee women are targeted by marriage brokers and pimps."

The report concludes with a host of recommendations for China, North Korea, the United States and the international community. While calling on China to cease the repatriation of North Korean refugees, and North Korea to "undertake economic and agricultural reforms" and "decriminalize movement across the border," the report urges the United States to "launch new initiatives to provide protection and assistance to North Korean women" along the border.

The plight of North Korean women sheds light on the larger issue of trafficking around the world. According to the U.S. Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, over 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year. Trafficking occurs in 170 countries, all of which are profiled and ranked in the Office's annual report. And in many cases, the victims themselves have recommendations. Mi-Sun Bang pleads for President Obama to ensure that no more North Korean women are sold like she was, "sold like livestock in China."

With trafficking -- modern day slavery -- claiming nearly a million victims a year, each woman, man, and child has a story to tell. And the plight of North Korean brides-for-sale is no different. Each one has a unique and tragic tale of enslavement.

"They would not allow me to leave the house," recounts one North Korean woman, "then someone from Yanji came to take me to Heilongjiange Province by train. Only when we arrived in a village in Heilongjiang did I hear I was going to be married."

[nChrist]

Religion Today Summaries - May 5, 2009
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.

In today's edition:

    * Nigeria Named to Panel's List of Religious Freedom Violators
    * 'Angels and Demons' Fails to Generate Vatican Outrage
    * No Arrests in Pakistani Christian Girl's Death
    * Anglicans to Decide on Sending Covenant Out for Approval

Nigeria Named to Panel's List of Religious Freedom Violators

Religion News Service reports that an independent federal panel on religious freedom has added two countries to its list of "countries of particular concern"-- Iraq and Nigeria -- and six others to its watch list. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom added Iraq to its list of "countries of particular concern" in December, and added Nigeria in its 2009 report, released May 1. Nigeria has been added to the list because commissioners believe the country is tolerating violations of religious freedom. Hundreds -- and some estimate thousands -- were killed in sectarian violence in the city of Jos in the Plateau state in November. Laos, Russia, Somalia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Venezuela were added to the list for the first time this year. Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam remain on the list.

'Angels and Demons' Fails to Generate Vatican Outrage

Catholic News Service reports that the Vatican responded to the second Dan Brown film with a different attitude - avoidance. The Vatican barred the filming of "Angels and Demons" from sites within Vatican City, but has otherwise ignored the film, to be released May 15. Director Ron Howard has lodged various complaints against the Holy See, and acknowledged at a press conference that the film's marketing might include exploiting potential conflict with the Vatican. "The marketing department of any studio would love to be able to create controversy over their films. But they can't do it on their own; they need a partner," he said. The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, declined to comment on Howard's accusations, saying they were merely designed to generate publicity for the film, which depicts various conspiracies and power plays at work within the Vatican.

No Arrests in Pakistani Christian Girl's Death

Christian Today reports that police have yet to arrest anyone in the month following the death of a young Christian girl. Medical reports indicate that nine-year-old Nisha Javid was gang-raped before being bludgeoned to death in a grim incident that has been repeated too often among Pakistan's Christian minority. More than three weeks later, police have been accused of inaction and refusing to follow up allegedly compelling evidence identifying the guilty party. "If nothing is done about this, where can our children go to feel safe? Everyone feels very insecure and very afraid," said Fr. Yaqub Masih, parish priest of Jaranwala, Faisalabad, close to Nisha's village. "Our people are very poor and they have no status in society," said Masih. "What can they do to protect themselves?"

Anglicans to Decide on Sending Covenant Out for Approval

The Christian Post reports that the Anglican leaders may soon send out a document that they hope will relieve tense disagreements within the Anglican Communion. The third "Ridley-Cambridge" draft will be approved or sent back for further revision by the Communion at the 14th Anglican Consultative Council meeting, which began Saturday in Kingston, Jamaica. Secretary General of the Anglican Communion Canon Kenneth Kearon told reporters, "The hope is that the ACC will feel that it's mature enough to go to the provinces." The document asks for the Communion's 38 provinces to voluntarily submit to a process of joined-up deliberation to solve disputes over contentious issues.

[nChrist]

Religion Today Summaries - May 6, 2009
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.

In today's edition:

    * Obama Plans Proclamation, Not Event, for National Day of Prayer
    * China: 18 Christians Arrested in Henan Province
    * Christians Tweet to Donate Drinking Water
    * U.S. Military Rejects Allegations of Trying to Convert Afghans

Obama Plans Proclamation, Not Event, for National Day of Prayer

Religion News Service reports that the Obama administration says it will issue a proclamation marking the National Day of Prayer on Thursday (May 7), but appears to be moving away from the White House ceremonies hosted by former President George W. Bush. "President Obama is a committed Christian and believes that we should be engaging Americans of faith in efforts to renew our country," a White House official said. During Bush's eight years in office, prominent evangelicals, including National Day of Prayer Task Force chairman Shirley Dobson, and her husband, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, gathered each year for an East Room ceremony on the first Thursday in May. Obama returns to the traditional method Reagan, George H.W.
Bush and others followed by signing the proclamation.

China: 18 Christians Arrested in Henan Province

ASSIST News Service reports that a dozen Public security Bureau (PSB) officers raided a house in China's Henan Province on April 30 and took away 18 believers. Sixteen are still being held. According to ChinaAid (www.ChinaAid.org ) a group of house church Christians and leaders from the house church group China Gospel Fellowship (CGF) were gathered for a communion service at a house church in Xinye city, Henan province, when they were raided by PSB officers. All 18 were forced to pay a 1,000 yuan (about US $150) fine. Ten of those still in custody are pastors from Hubei province. China's unregistered house churches face frequent intervention from China's totalitarian authorities.

Christians Tweet to Donate Drinking Water

The Christian Post reports that humanitarian efforts going viral this May. Hundreds of people on social networking sites and blogs joined the "5 Days in May" initiative for a new kind of mission effort. "Simply put, 5 Days in May is an opportunity to drink nothing but water for the first five days in May and then, as a celebration, give what you would have spent on other drinks to give water to people who do not have clean drinking water," Shawn Wood, Experiences Pastor at Seacoast Church in South Carolina, told Collide magazine. He launched the initiative solely on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and ending up with hundreds of followers across the Web. Participants began the effort on May 1, and concluded yesterday. "Here it is Cinco de Mayo and I'll be drinking water all day ... But it is so worth it," "scbubba" tweeted Tuesday.

U.S. Military Rejects Allegations of Trying to Convert Afghans

OneNewsNow reports that an American soldier's alleged efforts to evangelize locals around his base in Afghanistan have been stopped. The U.S. military said it has confiscated and destroyed the Bibles belonging to the soldier, who reportedly received the Bibles from his church in America. This follows a segment on Qatar-based Al Jazeer television that showed soldiers at a Bible class on base with a stack of Bibles translated into the native Pashto and Dari languages. The Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, told a Pentagon briefing Monday that the military's position is that it will never "push any specific religion."

[nChrist]

Religion Today Summaries - May 7, 2009
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.

In today's edition:

    * Maine Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage
    * Aid Groups Committed to Sri Lankan War Victims
    * Nepal in Turmoil after Maoist Leader Resigns
    * Iraqi Violence Decreases But Threat Remains, Archbishop Says

Maine Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

CNN reports that Maine became the fifth state to legalize same-sex marriage when Gov. John Baldacci signed the bill into law Wednesday. "In the past, I opposed gay marriage while supporting the idea of civil unions," said Baldacci, a Democrat. "I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage." The governor tacitly acknowledged that the law could face similar motions as California's Proposition 8, which reversed the law allowing same-sex marriage in that state. Maine joins Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont as states that not only recognize but grant marriage licenses to gay couples. On Tuesday, the Washington, D.C., City Council voted to recognized same-sex marriage performed in other states.

Aid Groups Committed to Sri Lankan War Victims

The Christian Post reports that hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the country's civil war are relying on aid agencies for food and clean water. "This emergency has the potential to claim as many lives from lack of food and water as from conflict," said Joanne Fairley, Lutheran World Relief's regional director for Asia and the Middle East, in a statement released Monday. "The entire situation in Sri Lanka remains unstable," she said. "Our first priority is to ensure that people have what they need to survive." World Vision has distributed food packets to more than 25,000 people and daily distributes almost 100,000 liters of water at refugee camps, but more is clearly needed. The United Nations estimates that 200,000 Sri Lankan civilians are in refugee camps.

Nepal in Turmoil after Maoist Leader Resigns

Mission News Network reports that Nepal's political future hangs by a thread, and ministries are praying that civil war will not return. "Nepal needs an absolute miracle," said Gospel for Asia President K.P. Yohannan after reviewing reports from Christian leaders in the strife-torn Himalayan country. "Right now we have a high emergency, but what is worse is that things could go back to the guerilla warfare that we had for the past 10 years." The country's Maoist Prime Minister clashed with Nepal's president over the potential firing of the army's top general, but ultimately chose to resign rather than escalate the conflict. "We are terribly concerned about the future of Nepal," Dr. Yohannan said, "and we ask that Christians around the world pray for this volatile situation."

Iraqi Violence Decreases But Threat Remains, Archbishop Says

Catholic News Service reports that believers in Iraq are thankful for improvements in general safety, but still fear violence. "The situation is improving generally ... violence has really decreased ... but for me, the problem is still there because the violence is still there," said Latin-rite Archbishop Jean Sleiman of Baghdad, who met with U.S. church officials in Washington May 4. Sleiman called violence "the language of politics" in Iraq. Although the church technically has more freedom than it did under Saddam Hussein, "many Iraqi churches are not accustomed to freedom." Still, churches finding ways to serve the community, such as running schools previously under national control. Today, the majority of students in the Catholic schools in Baghdad are Muslims.

[nChrist]

Indonesian Mayor Revokes Church Permit
Samuel Rionaldo


May 8, 2009

JAKARTA, Indonesia (Compass Direct News) -- Church members in Depok city, West Java, are unable to use their church building after the mayor, citing protests from area Muslims, revoked a permit issued in 1998.

Under a Joint Ministerial Decree (SKB) issued in 1969 and revised in 2006, all religious groups in Indonesia must apply for permits to establish and operate places of worship.

The Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (HKBP) church in Cinere village, Limo sub-district, in 1997 applied for permission to construct a church building and auditorium on 5,000 square meters of land, said Betty Sitompul, manager of the building project. Permission was granted in June 1998, and construction began but soon stopped due to a lack of funding.

After construction began again in 2007, members of a Muslim group from Cinere and neighboring villages damaged the boundary hedge and posted banners on the walls of the building protesting its existence. Most of the protestors were not local residents, according to Sitompul.

By then, the church building was almost completed and church members were using it for worship services.

Mayor Nur Mahmudi Ismail asked church leaders to cease construction temporarily to appease the protestors. Six months later, in January 2008, the church building committee wrote to the mayor's office asking for permission to resume work on the project.

"We waited another six months, but had no response," Sitompul said. "So we wrote again in June 2008 but again heard nothing."

The building committee wrote again in February, asking for dialogue with the protestors, but members of the Muslim group also wrote to the mayor on Feb. 19, asking him to cancel the church permit.

On March 27 the mayor responded with an official letter revoking the church permit on the grounds of preserving "interfaith harmony." When challenged, he claimed that city officials had the right to revoke prior decisions, including building permits, at any time.

The Rev. Simon Todingallo, head of the Christian Synod in Depok, said the decision breached SKB regulations and was the result of pressure from a small minority who did not want a church operating in the area. Rev. Todingallo added that the ruling is illegal since the mayor has no right to decide alone, but must also involve Religious Affairs and Internal Affairs ministries.

Saddled with an expensive building complex that was effectively useless, church officials said they would attempt to negotiate with the mayor's office for the return of the permit and seek legal counsel if negotiations failed.

[nChrist]

Religion Today Summaries - May 8, 2009
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.

In today's edition:

    * Libya: Ghanaian Missionary Released
    * Pakistan: Lawyer Threatens to Kill Man Charged with 'Blasphemy'
    * Anti-Christian Attacks Reported in 2 Indian States
    * Southern Baptists' Top Ethicist Calls Waterboarding 'Torture'

Libya: Ghanaian Missionary Released

ASSIST News Service reports that Ghana's Vice President, John Mahama, has secured the release of Daniel Baidoo, a Ghanaian evangelist based in Libya. Baidoo was serving a 25-year jail term for circulating Christian tracts in Arabic in that country. The release followed Mr. Mahama's three-day visit to Libya after he had presented the clemency request for the release of Baidoo to the Libyan Leader, Col. Muammar al-Gaddafi, through Dr. Al-Sayeed, a Libyan Envoy who called on him at his office at the Castle, Osu in Accra. Under Libyan Law, it is an offence to witness or try to convert a Libyan into another religion other than Islam.

Pakistan: Lawyer Threatens to Kill Man Charged with 'Blasphemy'

Compass Direct News reports that a Pakistani Christian charged with abetting blasphemy against Islam was denied bail for his own safety last week after an Islamist lawyer allegedly threatened his life in a court hearing. Hector Aleem, 51, remains in Adiyala Jail in Rawalpindi, near Pakistan's capital of Islamabad. Judge Mustafa Tanveer dismissed his bail application at a hearing on April 30. "If the judge does not punish Aleem according to the law, then [we] will kill him ourselves," said Tariq Dhamal, an attorney for the unnamed complainant, according to reports. Aleem's lawyer, Malik Tafik, said that he wants the trial closed to the public for safety, and fears that the judge is afraid to rule in favor of Aleem for fear of his life.

Anti-Christian Attacks Reported in 2 Indian States

The Christian Post reports that Hindu extremists in India continue to attack Christians, though extremists have stayed away from polling places during the national elections. In one incident, about 30 extremists attacked a Christian meeting in Mumbai and tried to force the 200 Christians present to recite Hindu devotions. When they refused, the extremists began beating those present, including a five-year-old child. The pastor required five stitches to the head, and 10 others received serious bruising. Five of the extremists have been arrested and charged with rioting. The incident resembles another attack on May 3, when 15 Hindu radicals attacks a prayer meeting and burned Bibles and literature in Chhattisgarh, India.

Southern Baptists' Top Ethicist Calls Waterboarding 'Torture'

Religion News Service (RNS) reports that the Southern Baptist ethicist Richard Land, a leading Christian conservative who helped advance the Bush administration's agenda on a range of social issues, said Monday (May 4) that the formerly sanctioned practice of waterboarding of suspected terrorists is torture and "violates everything we stand for." Land, who is president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, repudiated the simulated drowning techniques in an interview with RNS. "If the end justifies the means, then where do you draw the line?" Land said. "It's a moveable line. It's in pencil, not in ink. I believe there are absolutes. There are some things we must never do."

[nChrist]

Kenyan Pastor Beaten at Somaliland Border
Simba Tian


May 11, 2009

NAIROBI, Kenya (Compass Direct News) -- A pastor trying to visit Somalia's autonomous, self-declared state of Somaliland earlier this year discovered just how hostile the separatist region can be to Christians.

A convert from Islam, Abdi Welli Ahmed is an East Africa Pentecostal Church pastor from Kenya who in February tried to visit and encourage Christians, an invisibly tiny minority, in the religiously intolerant region of Somaliland.

Born and raised in Kenya's northern town of Garissa, Ahmed first traveled to Addis Ababa, the capital of neighboring Ethiopia. When he arrived by car at the border crossing of Wajaale on Feb. 19 with all legal travel documents, his Bible and other Christian literature landed him in unexpected trouble with Somaliland immigration officials.

"I was beaten up for being in possession of Christian materials," Ahmed told Compass. "They threatened to kill me if I did not renounce my faith, but I refused to their face. They were inhuman."

Ahmed said the chief border official in Wajaale, whom he could identify only by his surname of Jama, took charge of most of the torturing. Ahmed said their threats were heart-numbing as they struggled to subdue him, with Jama and others saying they had killed two Somali Christians and would do the same to him.

His pleas that he was a Kenyan whose faith was respected in his home country, he said, fell on deaf ears.

"I was abused, and they also abused my faith as the religion for pagans, which they said is unacceptable in their region," he said. "I told them that I am Kenyan-born and brought up in Kenya, and my Christian faith is respected and recognized in Garissa."

Jama ordered Ahmed's incarceration, and he was locked up in an immigration cell for nine hours. The officials took from his bag three CDs containing his personal credentials and Christian educational literature. They also took his English Bible, two Christian books and US$400, he said.

Ahmed said he was released with the aid of an unnamed Ethiopian friend.

"They warned me to never dare step into or think of going to Somaliland again," said Ahmed, who doubles as a relief and development worker.

On March 22 he sent letters of complaint to Ethiopian, Kenyan and even presumably less-than-sympathetic Somaliland officials; none has shown any signs of pursuing justice, he said.

Compass e-mailed a copy of the letter to Alexander O. Oxiolo, head of consular affairs at Ethiopia's Foreign Affairs ministry, who subsequently denied receiving it. When Compass printed the letter and took a hard copy to him, Oxiolo said he could not act on it because the complainant had not signed it.

He also questioned whether Ahmed was a Christian because of his Muslim name, apparently expecting him to have changed it after conversion.

Ahmed converted to Christianity in 1990. Soon after he was baptized in 1995, Ahmed came under threat from Muslims and fled to Niger in 1996, where he married. He and his wife returned to Kenya in 2000, Ahmed said, and since then he has received a steady stream of threats from Muslims in Garissa. On several occasions he has been forced to leave Garissa for months at a time, he said, waiting for tensions to cool.

Ahmed was ordained in 2004.

[nChrist]

Pope Benedict Lands in Israel, Condemns Anti-Semitism
Michelle Chabin and Luigi Sandri


May 12, 2009

TEL AVIV, Israel (RNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI arrived here on Monday (May 11) and quickly condemned anti-Semitism while calling for reconciliation in the fractious Middle East.

"The hopes of countless men, women and children for a more secure and stable future depend on the outcome of negotiations for peace between Israelis and Palestinians," said Benedict at this city's airport, where he was welcomed by Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"I plead with all those responsible to explore every possible avenue in the search for a just resolution of the outstanding difficulties, so that both peoples may live in peace in a homeland of their own, within secure and internationally recognized borders," the pope said.

The 82-year-old pontiff is on the second leg of a weeklong pilgrimage to the Holy Land. During a three-day visit to Jordan that concluded Sunday, Benedict praised the interfaith efforts of King Abdullah II and appealed to the region's millions of Muslims.

"My visit to Jordan gives me a welcome opportunity to speak of my deep respect for the Muslim community, and to pay tribute to the leadership shown by his majesty the king in promoting a better understanding of the virtues proclaimed by Islam," the pope said.

During Benedict's first papal visit to the Middle East, he also visited a Catholic center for the disabled, a site on the Jordan River where many believe Jesus was baptized, and Mount Nebo, from which Moses viewed the Promised Land, according to the Bible.

But on Benedict's first day in Israel, Bible history took a back seat to geopolitics and the continuing turmoil over his rehabilitation of a Holocaust-denying bishop in January. Jews worldwide were outraged when the pope welcomed Bishop Richard Williamson, an excommunicated priest who has questioned the extent of Jewish deaths during the Holocaust, back into the church.

The Vatican has since demanded that Williamson apologize and correct his remarks.

As soon as Benedict stepped foot on Israeli soil, the German-born pontiff condemned anti-Semitism.

"Every effort must be made to combat anti-Semitism wherever it is found, and to promote respect and esteem for the members of every people, tribe, language and nation across the globe," he said.

The theme resurfaced at Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial, where the pope met six Holocaust survivors and a Christian who risked his life to save Jews.

"May the names of these victims never perish. May their suffering never be denied, belittled or forgotten," the pope said at the foot of a memorial that contains the ashes of some of the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust.

Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, chairman of the Yad Vashem Council and a childhood survivor of a Nazi death camp, said Benedict's speech "was important" because the pope "stressed the prohibition to deny the Holocaust, to diminish from it, or forget it. These three `do nots' are very important, especially in an atmosphere of Holocaust denial," Lau told Israel TV.

Even so, Lau said the speech lacked some key elements.

"There was no mention of the Germans, or Nazis, who carried out the massacre.... He never said six million," Lau added. "I missed hearing, `I'm sorry, I apologize.'"

The Vatican and Jews also disagree about the actions of Pope Pius XII during the Holocaust. Benedict calls Pius a "great churchman" and supports his candidacy for sainthood. Jewish leaders say the former pope failed to use his moral platform to fight the Nazis.

On Tuesday the pope is expected to meet with the mufti of Jerusalem, pray at the Western Wall and visit the Church of the Dormition. He will end the day with a Mass at the Garden of Gethsemane. He will go to Bethlehem on Wednesday and Nazareth on Thursday.

"I take my place in a long line of Christian pilgrims to these shores, a line that stretches back to the earliest centuries of the church's history and which, I am sure, will continue long into the future," Benedict said here on Monday. "I come, like so many others before me, to pray at the holy places, to pray especially for peace -- peace here in the Holy Land, and peace throughout the world."

Benedict also tried to repair interfaith relations in Jordan, three years after he angered Muslims by quoting a medieval text that refers to Islam as "evil and inhuman." The pope later apologized for causing offense and the Vatican is involved in a high-level dialogue with dozens of Muslim scholars.

In Jordan the pope commended Muslims for trying to "curb extremism" and promoting understanding between people of various faiths.

At an open-air Mass attended by about 30,000 Catholics, Benedict acknowledged the many challenges they face.

"The Catholic community here is deeply touched by the difficulties and uncertainties which affect the people of the Middle East. May you never forget the great dignity which derives from your Christian heritage, or fail to sense the loving solidarity of all your brothers and sisters in the church throughout the world."

[nChrist]

Vietnam: Alleged Murderer of Christians Strikes Again
Special to Compass Direct news


May 12, 2009

LOS ANGELES (Compass Direct News) -- A Hmong man in Vietnam's Northwest Mountainous Region who murdered his mother in February because she had become a Christian has assaulted another Christian, leaving him critically wounded, according to area Christian sources.

Lao Lia Po on April 25 allegedly attacked Koua Lo of Meo Vac district, Ha Giang Province because he had become a Christian, according to a local church leader. Koua sustained severe head injuries; according to witnesses, his head was split open in two places with parts of his brain visible.

Koua was taken to a hospital, but after three days doctors said they could do nothing more for him and sent him home. As his injuries were life-threatening, those close to Koua did not expect him to recover.

The alleged attacker, Lao, is still at large and has not been charged. The assault took place in Sung Can Village, Sung Tra Commune, Meo Vac district, Ha Giang Province.

In the same area two years ago, a 74-year-old woman became the first Christian in the village. Today there are about 100 families who follow Christ, but the cost has been high. Stories of harassment and abuse of Christians in Meo Vac district have circulated for several months, with local Christians saying government officials are either complicit or look the other way.

On Feb. 3, local Christians said, Lao murdered his mother in a similarly brutal fashion, smashing her head until she died. Police only held him overnight before releasing him without charge. The day he was released, local sources said, he again threatened Christians with death.

A Vietnamese pastor petitioned the government to investigate -- with no result. Another leader informed U.S. diplomats of the details. Some Vietnamese Christians have complained to Vietnam diplomatic missions abroad, all to no avail.

Advocates of religious freedom in Vietnam say such impunity puts a serious blot on Vietnam's slowly improving religious liberty record.

Following heavy international scrutiny of Vietnam's oppression of religion in general and Protestantism in particular, Vietnam promulgated new religion legislation in 2004 and 2005. To date this has led to the legal recognition of six church/denominational organizations, raising the total to eight out of about 70. Additionally, a few hundred of Vietnam's thousands of house church congregations have been given interim permission to carry on religious activities, and large-scale government campaigns to force ethnic minority Christians to recant their faith have ceased.

High hopes for improvement following the new religion legislation led the U.S. Department of State to take Vietnam off its blacklist of the worst violators of religious freedom in late 2006, which enabled the U.S. government to endorse Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organization. And Christian support organization Open Doors this year dropped Vietnam to No. 23 on its World Watch List ranking of religion persecutors. In eight of the last 12 years, Vietnam had been placed among the organization's top 10 worst religious persecutors.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), however, found exceptions to progress so widespread that it again recommended naming Vietnam a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) this year. The recommendation by USCIRF, responsible for monitoring state department compliance with the U.S. 1998 Law on International Religious Freedom, was announced on May 1.

The commission's report recognizes progress but notes, "There continue to be far too many serious abuses and restrictions of religious freedom in the country. Individuals continue to be imprisoned or detained for reasons related to their religious activity or religious freedom advocacy; police and government officials are not held fully accountable for abuses; independent religious activity remains illegal; and legal protections for government-approved religious organizations are both vague and subject to arbitrary or discriminatory interpretations based on political factors."

Given the uneven pace of religious freedom progress after removing Vietnam from the list of CPCs, continued detention of prisoners of conscience, and an overall deteriorating human rights situation, USCIRF recommended that Vietnam be re-designated as a CPC.

In Tra Vinh Province in the Mekong Delta Region of southern Vietnam, another Christian was murdered on April 5. Thugs ambushed Thach Thanh No, described as a young and enthusiastic church elder, on his way home from Sunday worship, according to local Christian sources. His family was unable to find him quickly, and he died from his injuries as he was transported to a hospital.

The congregation in Ngoc Bien Commune to which he belonged has long been harassed and threatened by local thugs supported by militant Buddhists, according to area Christians, who emphasized that authorities have done nothing to intervene.

Indeed, in Thach's case, rather than prosecute the killers, the Ministry of Public Security's World Security newspaper published an article on April 24 -- concocted without any factual basis, according to area Christians -- which portrayed him as dying from crashing his motorbike while drunk. His motorbike, however, was found entirely unmarked without any signs of a crash, and his body showed clear signs of a vicious beating, according to area Christians.

"In one case the law winks at the murder of a Christian and does nothing to punish the murderer -- in another, authorities actively work to cover up a murder with elaborate lies," said one long-time advocate for religious freedom in Vietnam. "Such behavior on the part of authorities convinces many Vietnamese Christians that their country's top officials are still not sincere about improving religious freedom for all."