News Briefing: global

Catholic Archbishop Paulino Lukudu Loro of Juba has urged the South Sudanese President, Salva Kiir, to prioritise forgiveness and make it a central pillar of the national dialogue he has announced for the war-ravaged country.

Kiir, a Catholic, had asked the country to forgive him for all the wrongs he might have committed as head of state. Archbishop Lukudu Loro said the starting point for the dialogue for peace was forgiveness and, if the President wanted to be pardoned, he must start by forgiving others. “I ask the President to pardon and forgive all – political prisoners as well as others arrested for minor offences, others who may have been arrested because of rumour-mongering and propaganda,” Lukudu Loro was quoted in the press as saying at prayers he conducted at the President’s residence on 7 January. Forces aligned to Kiir’s Dinka tribe are clashing with former deputy Riek Machar’s Nuer tribe, causing tens of thousands of deaths

Time to move Lenin
Russia’s Orthodox Church has called for the remains of the Soviet Union’s founder, Vladimir Ilich Lenin (1870-1924), to be removed from public display in Moscow’s Red Square and buried privately for this year’s centenary of the 1917 Revolution. “Red Square is not a cemetery, nor a place for such burials,” said Bishop Tikhon Shevkunov, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Council for Culture. “But a decision must be taken by people who are properly authorised, after listening to all opinions. The decision will certainly have wide influence, and it’s most important it should not cause harm.” Russian Orthodox leaders have long demanded the burial of Lenin, who was embalmed by an Immortalisation Commission after his death and placed on display in a granite mausoleum adjoining the Kremlin.

The Government of President Vladimir Putin is planning major commemorations for next autumn’s centenary of the Revolution, which heralded the destruction of Russia’s Christian churches, and the peacetime deaths up to 35 million people.

Shock over rape case acquittal
Church leaders have expressed concern over the acquittal of two men in the case of a 48-year-old nun who was gang-raped in Chattisgarh state in central India in June 2015. Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai and president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, described the acquittal as “a grave injustice” and expressed outrage at the “half-hearted attitude of the police”. The trial court in Raipur, capital of Chattisgarh, last week acquitted Dinesh Dhurv, 19, and Jitendra Pathak, 25, who had been charged with raping the Salesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate nun after drugging her at the health centre attached to the convent. Gracias said he believed the investigation was wholly compromised by the police’s failure to protect the crime scene and collect crucial DNA samples. “This acquittal … is a huge setback for all of us working for the rights and dignity of women, in particular victims of violence,” the cardinal told AsiaNews. “We will challenge the verdict on appeal.”

Norway’s Lutheran Church has completed its separation from the state after 480 years as the country’s official denomination, following a lengthy process of constitutional reform. “The Norwegian Church is now an independent religious community and legal entity,” the governing synod said in a statement. “It is no longer a state institution with ministers embedded in the state’s service, and its church council is no longer part of the federal Government. The Church’s assembly …  is now the top representative body of the independent Norwegian Church.” At least 73 per cent of Norway’s 4.7 million inhabitants traditionally adhere to Lutheranism, although only 5 per cent attend religious events.

Starvation warning
The Ministry of Devolution in Kenya has announced that over 1.6 million people are at risk of starvation, after rains and crops failed in a development widely attributed to climate change. “In some regions, there have been two subsequent crop failures. The people cannot get back on their feet unless they are supported,” Bishop Philip Anyolo, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference told The Tablet. “Such regions need humanitarian support, before the people can get to the next planting and harvesting season.” Bishop Anyolo wants the Government to prioritise irrigation. “The farmers can no longer predict the weather patterns,” said the bishop.

Petrol price protests
Petrol price increases went into effect on 1 January across Mexico, with some regions of the country seeing a 20-per-cent increase at the pumps. The hike provoked protests around the country and the bishops’ conference held a press conference on 4 January in response to what Mexicans are calling the “gasolinazo”.

Demonstrations spread across dozens of Mexican cities, where protesters held marches and shut down petrol stations. Looting (above) took place at supermarkets and malls in states including Tabasco and on the outskirts of Mexico City. The bishops encouraged peaceful means of protest and at the same time urged the federal Government to reconsider a measure “that affects our whole country, particularly the poorest”. President Enrique Peña Nieto says the measure is necessary to open the Mexican fuel market to foreign and private competitors.

Pope Francis on Sunday baptised 28 babies during Mass in the Sistine Chapel, telling their families that Jesus’ first sermon was the sound of his own crying. Interrupted by occasional wails, the Pope gave a short, off-the-cuff homily. Jesus did just the same, Pope Francis said, adding that he liked to think of Our Lord’s first sermon as his crying in the stable in Bethlehem. And if your children are crying because they are hungry, the Pope told the mothers present, then go ahead and feed them, just as Mary breastfed Jesus.

Ten thousand Christians from across Europe gathered at Augsburg in Bavaria for the tenth annual, ecumenical, charismatic Mehr (More) prayer conference from 4-8 January. This year’s motto was “Holy Fascination”. Preacher to the papal household, Fr Raniero Cantalamessa OFM and US evangelical preacher Ben Fitzgerald both gave sermons. The average age of the participants was 37, and more than half were Catholic.