Missionaries of the World

The Christian community in Orissa, India is afraid, insecure and frustrated according to Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) as it continues to be the victim of official discrimination. The latest incident occurred on November 23 in Phulbani, Kandhamal District. Catholic Brother KJ Markose, who is also a lawyer, found that the authorities had allowed the construction of a Hindu temple right across from the town's Catholic Church.

The General Secretary of World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has welcomed the interim agreement between Iran and six world powers reached in Geneva, Switzerland on 24 November. He prayed for the agreement to become a sign of hope in a region where many yearn for peace. He expressed appreciation to the diplomats, whom he said, participated in a patient dialogue to create an opening in a wall that has isolated Iran for more than 30 years.

The Year of Faith ended on Sunday, Pope Francis met with the volunteers on Monday and thanked them for all their work. “The Year of Faith …was a providential opportunity for believers to revive the flame of faith, that flame that was given to us on the day of baptism,” Pope Francis told. “In this time of grace, we were able to rediscover the essence of the Christian way, in which faith, together with charity, occupies the primary place. Faith, is truly the cornerstone of the Christian experience because it motivates the choices and actions of our daily lives,” Pope added.

Thousands of Christians, Hindus and Buddhists from Nepal attended at Christ the King procession organized by the Catholic Church at Kathmandu in last November 23 to celebrate the closing of the Year of Faith, which ended on Sunday with a solemn Mass in St. Peter's Square. A great devotion of the population has joined the event, interrupting their work and participating in the ritual despite the climate of tension due to the recent elections to the Constituent Assembly.

More than 3,000 Christians used social media on November 21 to call for the release of a pastor, Saeed Abedini imprisoned in Iran, as part of a new campaign to support the pastor, a U.S. citizen and convert to Christianity. “This represents a tremendous outpouring of concern for Pastor Saeed,” said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice. “It is clear that the power of social media is significant and that thousands of people want to send a message directly to the leadership in Iran: free Pastor Saeed – he is no threat to the security of Iran.”

Google, the internet's largest search engine has created a digital map of two large catacombs in Rome, hoping to expose users to the historical sites' beauty and spark curiosity to learn more about them. “If you can find catacombs, if you can find frescos, if you can find museums online, then you will be willing to know more, so our objective is actually to have more and more people knowing about world-wide culture and for us Italian culture” told Georgia Albetino, head of Google's public policy team in Italy.

Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao of Goa, Daman and Diu has said that the process for canonization of Blessed Joseph Vaz has reached a crucial stage as one of the miracles submitted for his cause has been accepted as worthy of study by the Vatican. The archbishop conveyed the good news to the small gathering during the Eucharistic service celebrated outside the Archbishop's House at Altinho. Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio was present and blessed the statues of Blessed Vaz and Blessed John Paul II that were installed in the compound.

The Vatican will publish Pope Francis' first apostolic exhortation November 26, two days after he formally delivers it to the church at a Mass concluding the 2012-13 Year of Faith. In this regard, the Vatican announced that "Evangelii Gaudium" ("The Joy of the Gospel") will be presented at a news conference featuring Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops and Archbishop Claudio Celli, President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

Youth delegates to climate-change talks from churches of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) have initiated a call to fast with the poor and vulnerable who are affected by extreme weather events. The call was joined immediately by other faith-based organizations present at the COP 19 UN climate negotiations in Warsaw, Poland. More than 190 countries are represented at the COP 19 as it meets from 11-22 November in Warsaw to negotiate solutions to global climate challenges. One of the primary aims is to cut CO-2 emissions.

“Strengthening a marriage culture serves the common good of our country,” said Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone of San Francisco, who heads the United States Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage. He encouraged continued efforts to strengthen the institution of marriage, which is rooted in biology and is crucial for the health of society. In a recent update to his fellow bishops on the United States Church’s efforts in defense of marriage, he emphasized the need to educate the faithful and general public on the reason behind Catholic teaching on marriage.

Cardinal Oswald Gracias inaugurated the 12th general body meeting of the Catholic Council of India (CCI) to discuss the Second Vatican Council. The General Body meeting was commenced at Nav sadhana Pastoral Centre in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Bishop Raphy Manjaly of Varanasi gave the welcome address. Cardinal Oswald Gracias who is the President of CCI said “Second Vatican Council had a clear direction for the church in India. In the council, the church made a self-reflection and decision to renew herself”.

As relief efforts are on the way to help survivors of the overwhelming Typhoon Haiyan, which is the second-deadliest Philippine Typhoon on record, believed to have killed over 10,000 people in the Philippines, Vatican has sent an aid contribution of $150,000 to families and victims pleading to the world for help. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council of Philippines said 3,631 people were confirmed dead and the number of injured stood at 12,487, while 1,187 people are officially listed as missing. The council also said more than nine million people had been affected, including 1,871,321 who had been displaced.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) expresses deep sadness and sympathy for the devastating loss of life and property in the Philippines caused by the super typhoon Haiyan. Together with all member churches of the fellowship, Christians and people of all faiths around the world, we pause and pray for those who have been affected by this disaster. While the official death toll is not certain, Philippine officials say the toll could rise to 10,000 lives lost as a result of the storm. Already more than half a million people are homeless and thousands more have been injured.

Pope Francis will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 25 at Vatican, according to the Director of the Holy See’s Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi. On the following day, the Pope will meet with the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano. The first meeting between Pope Francis and the Russian President comes after the Holy Father sent a letter on September 05, at the opening of the G-20 summit, calling on the group’s leaders to set aside the “useless” search for a military solution to the conflict in Syria and to pursue a peaceful resolution through dialogue and negotiation.

The fourth annual Christian New Media Conference and Award distributing event was organised by Premier Christian Media at The Brewery Central London on November 09, 2013. About 500 Christians were gathered and encouraged to reimagine Church by engaging in social media. The 36 speakers at the day conference included Archbishop of Canterbury's daughter, Katharine Welby and others presented 32 seminars on topics including 'Podcasting Without Tears', 'Raising Funds Online' and 'Apologetics Online: The Good The Bad & The Ugly'. Reverend Dave Gilpin from Hope City Church in London opened the conference with the words: "There's a lot of boffins in the room, a lot of nerds, a lot of geeks”.

The 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) was convened in Busan, Republic of Korea between October 30 and November 08, 2013. The assembly, the highest governing body of the WCC, is held once every seven to eight years to endorse policies, review projects and point the future direction of the organization.

During the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis focused on Sunday’s Gospel reading, in which Jesus tackled the Sadducees, those who denied that there could be a resurrection. The Sadducees, Pope Francis said, put the following question to Jesus, in an attempt to ridicule the belief in resurrection: “A woman has had seven husbands, who died one after the other. Now at the resurrection, whose wife will that woman be?” First of all, the Pope said, Jesus explains that life after death has different parameters from our life on earth: eternal life is a different life, in a dimension where, among other things, matrimony will no longer exist. The risen, Jesus says, will be like angels and they will live in a different state of being, which we cannot achieve or even imagine right now.

The 10th Assembly of World Council of Churches (WCC) in Busan, Republic of Korea, concluded on November 08th, acting to inspire churches to renew their commitments to justice and peace. Through varied encounters and dialogue within the fellowship of churches, the Assembly has made concrete decisions and recommendations setting priorities for the future work of the WCC. The Assembly reviewed programmatic activities of the WCC, issued public statements and recorded minutes of concern, endorsing engagement and action by the churches around the world. The Assembly also elected a new governing body to lead the WCC into its new mandate.

Billy Graham, an American foremost evangelist delivered a half-hour video message to the American people on the occasion of his 95th birthday and the famed evangelist is delivering his final message to the American people that 'Our country's in great need of spiritual awakening'. The message is featured in a specially recorded video titled My Hope America. "With all my heart, I want to leave you with the truth," he says. He expressed concern that the United States is departing from its Christian roots. "There have been times that I have wept as I have gone from city to city and I have seen how far people have wandered from God." he says

More than a thousand lay Catholics, 100 nuns, 30 priests and 11 bishops from all the Dioceses of Bangladesh participated in the inauguration of Archbishop George Kocherry, the new Apostolic Nuncio to Bangladesh. The function took place yesterday in Dhaka. Archbishop Patrick D'Rozario, Archbishop of the Diocese welcomed the new papal representative expressed his full support of the whole Church of Bangladesh. In the past, he served as Secretary in the nunciatures in South Korea, Costa Rica, Nigeria, West Indies, Thailand, Singapore, Switzerland and Australia and as a representative of the Pope in Ghana and Zimbabwe.

The 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches has elected the Central Committee on 06th November 2013 during a closed session at its Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea. The Assembly elected a 150-member Central Committee, which serves as the main decision-making body of the Council between Assemblies. An Executive Committee consisting of 25 delegates, a moderator and two vice-moderators will be elected by the Central Committee later this week.

On Sunday at St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis praised the ‘ridiculous’ actions of Zaccheus, the short tax collector who climbed a tree in order to be able to see Jesus in the crowds and spoke about the day’s Gospel account of the conversion of Zacchaeus. The Holy Father recalled that Zacchaeus, a man “short in stature,” because he was a publican “was a lost sheep, despised, an ‘excommunicate’ . . . a friend of the hated Roman occupiers, a thief and an exploiter.”

Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser, Former General Secretary of the WCC discussed his book Religion, Power, Politics. Raiser is a theologian from Germany and author of many works in the area of political ethics and public theology, including For a Culture of Life: Transforming Globalization and Violence at the 10th Assembly of WCC in Busan, Republic of Korea. His book Religion, Power, Politics was published in 2013 by WCC Publications, which is hosting a series of book events at the WCC assembly.

Every year first Sunday of November celebrates as World Sunday School Day. Sunday School is a programme which runs every Sundays after the Mass to train young people into the spirituality by elders in the churches. Now, the Sunday School became the generic name for many different types of Christian education pursued on Sundays by various denominations. It was an idea proposed by Mr. Robert Raikes, founder and father of Sunday school, in the Gloucester Journal on 1780s in England. He published an article regards Sunday school in his own journal which was supported by many priests in the following days.

The Archbishop leading the Holy See’s delegation to the United Nations has praised international efforts to combat hunger, malnutrition and poverty, but said that more must be done to secure the human right to food. “While improvements in food production remain an important goal, food security will be achieved by all only when we change social structures and when we learn to show greater solidarity towards the poor and the hungry,” Archbishop Francis Assisi Chullikatt, the Apostolic Nuncio leading the Vatican’s Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations said Tuesday.

The assembly session on November 01, featured varied reflections from women, men, youth and church leaders from Asia, speaking on the WCC assembly theme “God of life, lead us to justice and peace”. The assembly is currently ongoing in Busan, Republic of Korea, continuing until 8 November. The complete session moderated by the WCC President for Asia, Rev. Dr Soritua Nababan, featured a wide range of issues, setting the tone for addressing issues of concern for the Asian churches.