ROBERT JOHN KENNEDY

Wednesday, 1 March 2017

Vietnamese seminary marks 25 years

Stella Maris Major Seminary was suppressed by the government but re-emerged, training priests for Vietnam's parishes.

Stella Maris Major Seminary in Vietnam celebrated its 25th anniversary on Feb. 22 in Nha Trang city. (ucanews.com photo)

Nha Trang city: A major seminary established 25 years ago in central Vietnam has produced hundreds of priests to meet the needs of the country's Catholics even as the communist government suppressed their faith.

Father John Baptist Ngo Dinh Tien, rector of Stella Maris Major Seminary in Nha Trang, capital of Khanh Hoa province, said that the seminary trained some 500 priests for nine dioceses over the past 25 years. He said that the priests satisfied the need for clergy that dioceses had after the country was reunified under communist rule in 1975.

But it has not been a easy process.

A senior priest said, under condition of anonymity, that Nha Trang Diocese said the previous Stella Maris Major Seminary — and 60 other church facilities — were confiscated by the government in 1979. He said no priests were ordained from 1976 to 1990 and other priests were banned from pastoral work.

After the government enacted their "open door" policy in the late 1980s and allowed six major seminaries to be reopened, the late Bishop Paul Nguyen Van Hoa of Nha Trang decided to re-establish the Stella Maris Major Seminary in 1991.

The government granted the diocese a former elementary school to use for the seminary. In 1992, the seminary ran its first course attended by 30 students from three dioceses.

Father Tien said, at first, the government allowed the seminary to recruit only 30 students every two years; they attended courses lasting six years.

However, since 2010, the seminary has annually admitted 50 students who eight-year courses before ordination.

He said that the seminary also conducted refresher courses in theology for old seminarians who had trained unofficially during the underground period, at parishes and study houses. They are from nine dioceses throughout the country.

Father Tien said that, since 2008, the seminary has been affiliated with the Rome-based Pontifical Urban University that offers graduates bachelor degrees in theology so that they can further study at international church institutes.

Luke Y Ngit, an ethnic Mnong man from Ban Me Thuot Diocese, said his son was studying philosophy at the seminary. "My family ask God to support him to be a priest in the future to serve our villagers," he said.

Bishop Joseph Vo Duc Minh of Nha Trang presided over a Mass that celebrated the 25th anniversary of the seminary's establishment on Feb. 22. Some 1,000 people attended the Mass.

Source: UCAN

Domestic violence against women 'prevalent' in Kashmir

Caritas helps women be mentally and financially stronger in the face of patriarchal abuse.

Muslim women attend a pre-dawn prayer outside a mosque in Kashmir in this file photo. Studies show that thousands of women are victims of domestic violence in Jammu and Kashmir state. (Photo by Umar Shah)

Srinagar: As Tabasum Bano begins to narrate the ordeal, her hands tightly gasp the arm of the chair. Her features become livid, eyes haggard and lips agitated by a convulsive twitch.

Two years ago, and merely six months into her marriage, life for this 26-year-old woman from north Kashmir, began to fall apart.

"In the beginning, I just used to receive jibes from my in-laws for not bringing enough dowry. Then they started beating me up every day," Tabasum says.

Within a year, she began developing symptoms of depression. One day, when she went to her father's home for a brief stay, she sprinkled kerosene all over her body and set herself ablaze. Timely action from her sister saved her.

Currently, she is undergoing treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder at Kashmir's Psychiatric Hospital. Her younger sister, Fehmeeda Bano says her elder sibling has "constant mood swings" that "even if you find her in a good mood, she can abruptly start bashing things around."

"She is on tranquilizers and it is only the hope of her recovering one day that keeps us going," said Fehmeeda.

After Tabasum got divorced, her father, Ghulam Mohammad, filed a police case of domestic violence against his daughter's former in-laws but they were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

"Everyone called my daughter mad, but she was a happy girl until she got married. She became a victim of domestic violence," Mohammad said.

Unfortunately, Tabasum's case is just one of thousands in Kashmir, the Muslim-dominated northern Indian state.

According to data released by the government in February, 1,170 cases of domestic violence, abetment to suicide, cruelty by husbands or in-laws were registered by police in the past two years in Jammu and Kashmir. Police also arrested 2,818 persons for such crimes, said the government's figures said.

However, a survey published in January by the sociology department of the University of Kashmir reveals that more than 4,000 cases of domestic violence against woman are reported in Kashmir every year. Kashmir women are reluctant to file complaints for fear of causing disgrace to their families, it said.

Studies also show that more than half the complaints are withdrawn due to family pressure or after some sort of settlement between the parties.

The university's research indicates that more than 40 percent of women in Kashmir are physically or emotionally abused by their husbands, in-laws or both. Dowry payments, misunderstandings and even the birth of a female child can cause harassment.

Prevalent

Madhulika, a social service official of the Catholic Church, said that domestic violence against women in the state has been prevalent for a long time.

Madhulika, who uses one name only, is the coordinator of the Integrated Community Development, an initiative by Jammu and Kashmir's Catholic social service, Caritas. "Earlier it was considered taboo to talk about such issues, but the alarming increase in suicides and suicide attempts has forced people to acknowledge the presence of this evil," she said.

"To make women self-reliant and empowered is one of our primary objectives. Keeping this in mind, we are running tailoring and beautician centers for women in several rural areas of the state to help them become more financially independent," she said.

Caritas has formed 57 women's groups of 35 to 50 members each that serve as a platform for rural women who otherwise remain within the periphery of their houses. Madhulika believes such groups will help women come out and share their problems and support each other to become mentally and financially stronger. "Once the groups in each hamlet are formed, women share their situations and sort out their own issues," she said.

Psychiatric problems

Kashmir's prominent psychiatrist, Mushtaq Margoob said that most psychiatric problems among women in Kashmir are due to domestic violence. "It is insecurity and lack of confidence among women because of abuse that, at times, leads to suicide attempts."

B.A. Dabla, Kashmir's leading sociologist and former head of Kashmir University's sociology department, in his research, claimed that it is the patriarchal society that supports violence against women. "The discrimination against women still exists. The narrow social and mental set up has resulted in increasing violence against women," Dabla says.

Most Indian families consider the birth of a girl a liability as she must be married and a dowry paid. Hindu families also long for boys as they believe the souls of parents will have eternal rest only when a son leads the funeral ceremonies.

Abdul Rashid Hanjura a social activist and lawyer, says that the situation is aggravated because many incidents go unreported and the guilty go unpunished. "Criminals go on committing crimes because they know severe action will not be taken against them," he said.

The university research also relates unemployment and the political unrest in the valley to the escalating domestic violence. In the last 30 years, an estimated 100,000 people have died in Jammu and Kashmir, including civilians, militants and army personnel, after groups began an armed struggle for freedom from Indian rule or to merge with neighboring Pakistan. Both countries claim the region and each administer a part.

Source: UCAN

The Philippine church's role in social transformation

Church leaders are again using their influence to speak out against dark times.

A seminarian lights a candle during a prayer rally for peace in Manila on the eve of the anniversary of the 1986 People Power revolution on Feb. 22. (Photo by Angie de Silva)

By Mary Aileen Bacalso
Manila: The execution of three Filipino priests — Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora — on Feb. 17, 1872, has become part of Philippine history. The priests earned the ire of Spanish authorities for inciting people to protest against abusive Spanish friars and for their campaign for equal rights among the clergy.

The executions were one of the darkest periods of the progressive, better still, revolutionary segment of the Philippine Catholic Church and were triggered by a rebellion of 200 Filipino troops and workers in the province of Cavite. Albeit crushed, the mutiny was magnified to justify the persecution of Filipinos clamoring for reforms.

A century later, after Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972, the political landscape in the Philippines was characterized by the growing poverty of people and the resulting unrest due to the curtailment of fundamental freedoms and violations of basic human rights.

Against this backdrop emerged a new generation of revolutionary Church people, not only among Catholics but among Christian Churches.

On Feb. 17, 1972, the Christians for National Liberation, a national democratic underground mass organization, was established. Led by its founding chairman, former Divine Word missionary priest Edicio de la Torre, the group was formed as a response to the "signs of the times."

The group's founding members courageously declared their participation in the raging revolutionary movement amid the repression that victimized the little ones of God’s flock — farmers, workers, students, and slum dwellers. The new group gathered around a monument of the three slain priests whose execution became a prelude to the 1896 Philippine revolution.

The revolutionary response of the churches paid a very high price. Among those who paid for the "theology of struggle" with their lives were a number of Catholic priests, such as Nilo Valerio, Carlos Tayag, Rudy Romano, and Edgar Kangleon. Several others were arrested and detained, including Edicio de la Torre. Soldiers raided convents and religious houses, including the home of the late Archbishop Antonio Fortich of Bacolod.

But as the Gospel according to John says, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."

When opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. was killed in 1983, people started to rise, resulting in what was later known as the peaceful "People Power Revolution" from Feb. 22-25, 1986.

The influential voice of Manila’s charismatic Cardinal Jaime Sin brought a huge number of men and women-of-the cloth onto the streets of Manila.

Marching for three days hand in hand with the people, priests, nuns, and seminarians used Bibles, crosses, and rosaries, to defy soldiers armed with truncheons, teargas and guns. The Catholic Church became a major actor in the revolution, attracting the participation of the so-called "middle class" to the streets.

Could have there been a "People Power Revolution" without the participation of Catholic Church leaders? Had Cardinal Sin not called on Catholics to put a stop to the two decades of tyranny, Marcos could have perpetuated himself in power beyond his 21 years of plunder and human rights violations.

As the country marked the 31st anniversary of the revolution and as the Philippines is marred by thousands of drug-related killings, a national soul-searching is called for. As if the number of killings is not enough, members of the Philippine Congress are calling for the restoration of the death penalty to legalize killings.

Catholic Church leaders have already spoken. "It is this Divine gift of life, sublime and unsurpassable, that the death penalty takes away. It is the breath of life, the gift of the Creator, that every judicial execution snatches and cuts short," read a statement by the country's Catholic bishops.

In opting for the "Church of the Poor," the Philippine Catholic Church has responded to the moral imperatives stated in the church's social teachings. Amidst the darkness of the situation, it is heartening that the country's church leaders are again using their influence to stop the killings and prevent the re-imposition of the death penalty. The priests who were executed by the Spaniards were victims of capital punishment. A century and a half later, Filipinos should have already learned from that irreversible mistake.

Mary Aileen Bacalso is secretary-general of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances. For her commitment to the cause of the disappeared, the government of Argentina awarded her the Emilio Mignone International Human Rights Prize in 2013.

Source: UCAN