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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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CWNews.com - As the world waits for news about Asia Bibi, the young Pakistani Christian mother who has been condemned to death after being convicted of blasphemy, another Christian woman has been arrested on similar charges.
Agnes Nuggo was denounced for blasphemy after she became embroiled in a property dispute with Muslim neighbors in the Punjab province. Accused of making statements that insulted the Mohammed, she insists that she is innocent.
The case is typical: a Christian is accused by unfriendly neighbors; the charge is entirely dependent on the testimony of those neighbors. Despite the obvious weakness of the legal case, courts are under heavy pressure from Islamic militants to convict the accused. Christian women face additional risks because Islamic societies favor the testimony of male witnesses.
The Pakistani bishops’ justice-and-peace commission reports that 16 Christian women have been jailed for blasphemy since 1987. Only one Muslim and one
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CWNews.com - With a series of photos showing Muslims and Christians demonstrating side by side, an AsiaNews correspondent makes the point that the recent mass demonstrations in Egypt were marked by a spirit of inter-faith cooperation.
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In a religious culture plagued by in-fighting and schism, Metropolitan Nicholas of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the U.S.A. has worked to heal rifts between Orthodox and Catholic Christians.
On Tuesday, some Byzantine Catholics will join a 5 p.m. celebration of his 75th birthday at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Johnstown.
"He has a passion for church unity," said the Rev. John Petro, rector of SS. Cyril & Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary, North Side. "It's not about giving academic lectures on ecumenism, but a living experience of coming together to pray and work on common projects."
Metropolitan Nicholas has worked for reconciliation while supporting missionary outreach to a secular world. He is battling cancer and was unable to give an interview but will be at Tuesday's service.
Read the full article at: Carpatho-Russian Leader Honored on 75th Birthday in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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RISU.ORG.UA - "During the election of the new head of UGCC, the bishops will not be allowed to leave the building, receive guests or talk on cell phones," Bishop Bohdan Dziurakh, the secretary of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), told RISU when asked whether the participants of the electoral synod of the UGCC will be protected from external influences as they were during the last election of the Most Holy Father.
According to Bishop Bohdan, at the synod they will not use the equipment to neutralize radio waves, as was done in the Vatican, but the bishops will be asked not to contact the outside world. "The technical personnel will also take an oath of secrecy," added the secretary of the Synod of Bishops.
According to the administrator of UGCC, Archbishop Ihor Vozniak, no attempts to influence the members’ choice have been recorded. In answer to RISU's question whether politicians and representatives of other churches are putting such pressure on the bishops in view of the authority of the last head of the UGCC, Patriarch Lubomyr (Husar), and the social significance of future head of one of the largest churches of Ukraine, the administrator noted that there is no pressure so far and that there is only some interest.
In answer to the question whether there will be any independents among the aspirants to the highest seat of the UGCC, Archbishop Ihor noted: "Each of us considers others better than himself." According to the head of the Legal Department of the Patriarchal Curia, Fr. Vitalii Tokar, Ph.D., the particular law envisages inclusion of all the participants of the synod in the list of the candidates. According to him, a candidate must be at least 40 years old and have at least 10 years of experience as a priest to become the supreme archbishop of UGCC. The election quorum is constituted by two thirds of the bishops who are to participate in the Synod.
"Everyone is invited but not everyone must participate. Bishops emeriti are not bound but they can be present," explained Fr. Tokar. According to him, after the bishops make their choice, the elected person will have two days for reflection: "If that person continues to be silent after two days, the election will start again. If he agrees, he must send a letter to Most Holy Father requesting to approve his candidacy," he noted.
According to Bishop Bohdan, as of today, of the 50 Greek Catholic bishops there are 15 bishops emeriti. The oldest of them, Bishop Inokentii Lototskyi from the United States is 95. The youngest Greek Catholic hierarch is the Apostolic Administrator of the UGCC Eparchy in Argentina, Bishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, who is 40. "Most of the bishops were consecrated under His Beatitude Lubomyr," noted the secretary of the Synod of Bishops of UGCC.
As RISU reported earlier, the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church which is to elect the Supreme Archbishop will begin on March 21 in the Patriarch Josyf Slipyj Recollection Center in Briukhovychi, Lviv.
On February 10, at a press conference in Kyiv, Patriarch Lubomyr reported that Pope Benedict XVI accepted his abdication of the position of the supreme archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The head of UGCC submitted the request at the age of 75. Patriarch Lubomyr headed the UGCC for ten years.
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RISU.ORG.UA - Today the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is preparing for the election of a new primate. The decree to convene the synod, which was passed to all the members of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, reads that the election will be held on March 21-24 and the celebratory enthronement is planned for Sunday, March 27, 2011, in the Patriarchal Cathedral of Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv.
The administrator of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Archbishop Ihor (Vozniak), on February 16 addressed the clergy and faithful of the UGCC with a call to pray for a successful Electoral Synod and election of the new head of the church.
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