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CCP Demands Church to Ban Minors in Order to Reopen
China– As the pandemic in China gradually fades out from people’s attention, and the country is seeking to bring everything back to normal, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has demanded a Catholic diocese in northern China to sign a document that bans children under the age of 18 from attending, if the church wanted to reopen again.
This Zhengding church in Hebei province also acts as an orphanage for disabled children. Bishop Jia Zhiguo rejected signing the document, along with the entire diocese. “All parishes are required to sign a pledge that they will not allow minors to enter their churches or officials will not allow them to open churches,” a Catholic from Zhengding said.
He added that authorities were using the pandemic as a cover to suppress the Church. “This requirement of banning children was not part of the requirement anywhere else in China. The local authorities added it by themselves,” he said.
The government in Jinzhou city threatened the church that if the document is not signed, they would take over the church-run orphanage for handicapped children and the bishop’s house, while making it appear as if the local government is “buying” the property.
Nuns who took care of the children now only care for the babies who are left, since older children were removed. The CCP also asked all nuns to register with the state-approved Catholic church; otherwise, the CCP will expel them. Rarely are children who are disabled and orphaned receive any sympathy or support from the government. Churches are often the only support structure willing to care for them.
While the negotiations are still ongoing, the government has already stated its intention to seize the orphanage.
“It is outrageous and a complete lack of respect for religious rights and freedoms, and it tramples on constitutional values,” a local Catholic protested.
Sources:Persecution
The United Arab Emirates has suspended an agreement to inaugurate visa-free travel for Israelis to the Gulf country until July 1, citing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said.
Until then, Israeli citizens seeking to travel to the UAE will need to obtain a visa, as will UAE citizens seeking to travel to Israel, the ministry said on Monday. The UAE has taken a similar step regarding travel from most European countries, as well as India and Pakistan, the Israeli ministry said.
Israel is in its third lockdown and discussing the possibility of extending it beyond Jan. 21 as the number of new cases remains high.
The UAE ratified the agreement on visa-free travel with Israel last week and it was set to go into effect 30 days from then. The agreement follows a normalization accord between the countries signed in September.
The announcement of the suspension comes a day after Israel’s cabinet voted to require all people returning from the UAE and Brazil to quarantine in government-run hotels. A similar decision made previously regarding travelers returning from South Africa and Zambia was extended for 10 days.
India – According to the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), Indian Christians endured at least 327 incidents of persecution in 2020. This was despite the fact that most of India’s population lived under locked down conditions for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to EFI, 327 cases of persecution were documented in 2020. At least five Christians were murdered and six churches were burnt or demolished in religiously motivated attacks. In addition, EFI noted 26 incidents of social boycotts where Christian communities were shunned by their non-Christian neighbors due to their religious identity.
EFI’s report documents the continuation of an ongoing trend of growing religious intolerance and violence in India. Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took political power in 2014, incidents of Christian persecution documented by EFI have more than doubled. In 2014, the year the BJP rose to political power, EFI recorded 147 violent attacks on Indian Christians. In 2019, after five years of BJP rule, EFI recorded 366 violent attacks.
The incidents documented by EFI likely represent only a portion of the violence experienced by India’s Christian community. Most incidents go unreported due to fear of reprisal and lack of confidence in India’s justice system.
Sources:persecution
സ്റ്റാറ്റസായി കാര്യങ്ങള് പറഞ്ഞ് വാട്ട്സ്ആപ്പ്; ‘നിങ്ങളുടെ ചാറ്റ് ഞങ്ങള് കാണില്ല’
ദില്ലി:സ്വകാര്യനയത്തിന്റെ പേരില് ഏറെ പ്രതിസന്ധിയിലായ വാട്ട്സ്ആപ്പ് എല്ലാ വാട്ട്സ്ആപ്പ് ഉപയോക്താക്കള്ക്കും വ്യക്തിപരമായി സന്ദേശം അയക്കുന്നു. വാട്ട്സ്ആപ്പിലെ സ്റ്റാറ്റസ് സെക്ഷനിലാണ് വാട്ട്സ്ആപ്പ് പ്രത്യേക സന്ദേശം പ്രദര്ശിപ്പിക്കുന്നത്. സ്റ്റാറ്റസില് ആദ്യം...
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