Bangalore, India, 28 November (ENI)--Christian groups in India are mourning the killing of a prominent Christian worker who had converted from Islam and was shot dead at a bus stop in front of his home in the state Kashmir. The Global Council of Indian Christians has demanded that the Indian federal police fully investigate the killing of the slain man, who worked in his spare time as the church group's Kashmir coordinator.

Bashir Tantray, who was aged 50, was shot in Mamoosa on 21 November in the Kashmir region. People close to him said he was gunned down by motor-cycle borne Islamic militants. The Christian council said that "with the collusion of state officials", Tantray was buried according to Islamic rites "in an unseemly hurry". It said, even his four children who were studying in boarding schools outside the state were denied "an opportunity to see his body".

The council said: "This is totally unwarranted and unacceptable, as it was public knowledge that he had been a Christian for almost two decades." Sajan K. George, the council's convenor told Ecumenical News International that Tantray, who was employed by the state government, had been under pressure from Islamicist groups to reconvert to Islam and had even escaped an attempt on his life three years ago.

The ecumenical All India Christian Council (AICC) in a statement on 27 November said that the assassination of the Christian convert was "a wake up call to church, community and the Indian Government". Missionaries arrived in the Kashmir valley more than 100 years ago, but there are only a few thousand Christians among Kashmir state's 10 million people, as conversions to other faiths in the Muslim-majority region remain a very sensitive issue.

The AICC said that victims of violence in Kashmir state belong to all faiths, including Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians. Earlier in the month the AICC had reported that in other parts of India, Christians in "tribal communities" face intense pressure to convert to Hinduism. [344 words]

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Rome, 23 November (ENI)--Pope Benedict XVI and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, have prayed together and committed to strengthening Roman Catholic-Anglican ties, but the two remained divided over key issues, including the ordination of women priests and the role of homosexual clergy. The Pope and the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion met at the Vatican on 23 November to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the meeting between the then spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, Michael Ramsey, and Pope Paul VI, in 1966.

Benedict did not identify in detail areas of difficulty between the two churches, but he did speak of the "the strains and difficulties besetting the Anglican Communion and consequently about the uncertainty of the communion itself". In a speech the pontiff told Williams: "Recent developments, especially concerning the ordained ministry and certain moral teachings, have affected not only internal relations with the Anglican Communion but also relations between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church.

"We believe that these matters, which are presently under discussion within the Anglican Communion, are of vital importance to the preaching of the Gospel in its integrity, and that your current discussions will shape the future of our relations," said the Pope. He said the meeting 40 years ago was "filled with great promise, as the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church took steps towards initiating a dialogue about the questions to be addressed in the search for full visible unity. There is much in our relations over the past 40 years for which we must give thanks".

The "recent developments" referred to by the by Pope are believed to hinge on the decision of some Anglican "provinces" different regional churches call themselves, to accept women as priests. It also refers to the consecration the Episcopal Church, the Anglican church in the United States, of an openly gay divorced bishop, who openly lives with another man.

A Common Declaration signed by Benedict XVI and Williams noted: "Over 35 years, the Anglican - Roman Catholic International Commission has produced a number of important documents which seek to articulate the faith we share … There are many areas of witness and service in which we can stand together: the pursuit of peace in the Holy Land and in other parts of the world marred by conflict and the threat of terrorism; promoting respect for life from conception until natural death; protecting the sanctity of marriage and the well-being of children in the context of healthy family life."

"At the same time," said the declaration, "our long journey together makes it necessary to acknowledge publicly the challenge represented by new developments which, besides being divisive for Anglicans, present serious obstacles to our ecumenical progress … We commit ourselves in our continuing dialogue to address the important issues involved in the emerging ecclesiological and ethical factors making that journey more difficult and arduous." [493 words]

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Bangalore, India, 23 November (ENI)--Churches in Nepal have hailed the signing of a peace treaty between Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist leader Prachanda ending years of turmoil for the Himalayan country. "It was a great moment in the history of Nepal and probably in the whole world," said the National Christian Council of Nepal (NCCN) in a statement on 22 November. "It ended the 11-year long conflict launched by the CPN (Maoists) and it opens a new door for peace, democracy, and development."

The Nepal church council's general secretary Kalai Bahadur Rokaya was among dignitaries who attended the signing. It was a special moment for him because he was in a 30-member ceasefire monitoring committee. "We hope the peace process is now irreversible," Rokaya, told Ecumenical News International from Kathmandu on 23 November.

Under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed after protracted negotiations, the rebels have agreed to the rule of law. Killings, abductions, conscription of youth and extortion will no longer enjoy government leniency as rebel "political activities", but will be treated as crimes. The treaty signatories have also mooted a truth and reconciliation commission, similar to one that South Africa in brining closure to apartheid, to deal with the responsibility for crimes both by the state as well as the rebels, an long-standing demand of the church council.

"We were one of the first to demand the setting up of this commission three years ago and we are so glad they have agreed to it," Rokaya told ENI. More than 13 000 people including security forces, civilians and Maoist rebels have been killed in a violent campaign by the Maoists demanding an end to a centuries-old monarchy and turning Nepal into a republic.

Massive pro-democracy protests in which the Maoists played crucial role in April had forced King Gyanendra to abdicate absolute power, reinstate the parliament and appoint a popular government led by the opposition alliance which declared a truce with the Maoist rebels in May. [343 words]

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Moscow, 20 November (ENI)--Patriarch Alexei II of the Russian Orthodox Church has thanked Pope Benedict XVII for a donation he made towards the restoration of the Trinity Cathedral in St. Petersburg, which was severely damaged by fire in August. In a letter by the Patriarch posted on his press service's Web site, www.patriarhia.ru, on 16 November, Alexei II praised Pope Benedict's gesture.

"I regard your participation in the restoration of this house of God as a sign of sincere love for the Russian Orthodox Church, which, without a doubt, can serve as a guarantee for further development of our relations in the spirit of Christian brotherhood and mutual assistance," said the Patriarch. Some church watchers believe the Russian Orthodox Church has been increasingly receptive to overtures from the Vatican. The letter did not indicate the amount of Pope Benedict's contribution, but Catholic World News Service said it was a 10 000 euro contribution.

The white-column, classical style cathedral was consecrated in 1835 as the regimental church of the Izmailovsky regiment of the Imperial Guard. In Soviet times it was used as a warehouse. The cathedral's blue, star-sprinkled domes were a St. Petersburg landmark, visible for kilometers around. Live Russian television footage on 25 August showed flames soaring above the majestic main dome, engulfing it and one of four smaller domes.

The two domes, which were wooden, had been under restoration and covered in scaffolding. Officials have said welding work might have started the fire, but priests at the cathedral have said they suspect arson. At a news conference in August one of priest said nationalists had made threats against the cathedral because of the stars on the domes, the Interfax news agency reported. They were said to resemble the Star of David. [305 words]

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New Delhi, 16 November (ENI)--A 60-year-old Roman Catholic Pakistani, Ranjha Masih, has been acquitted after being held in for eight and a half years in isolation at a prison awaiting trial on fabricated blasphemy charges. "We are really happy. This is a victory for Christians and those who believe in human rights," Joseph Francis, director of the Christian action group that pleaded Masih’s appeal, told Ecumenical News International on 16 November from his office in Lahore.

Francis, director of the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), said that the Lahore high court acquitted Masih on 13 November of blasphemy charges. If found guilty these carry a mandatory death sentence in Pakistan. Masih had been arrested on the day of the funeral of Catholic Bishop John Joseph of Faislabad who had shot himself in May 1998 to protest a death sentence that had been meted earlier out to another member of his church on false blasphemy charges.

The legal aid centre said that during the mourning procession for Bishop Joseph, who sacrificed his life to highlight abuses of the blasphemy law, distressed Christian youth stoned vehicles and shops. Following this, a shop signboard with verses inscribed from the Quran fell down. A group of Muslim youths then grabbed Masih from the crowd and accused him of knocking down the signboard. Since then, Masih had been detained, awaiting trial.

"Ranjha [Masih] is the 20th Christian we [CLAAS] have got acquitted by the court [after being charged with blasphemy]," Francis told ENI. However, the Catholic activist pointed out that 10 Christians have also been murdered during blasphemy trials since the law was enacted in 1988. "Many of those acquitted (of blasphemy) do not feel safe here and have migrated," said Francis explaining adding that 10 of the Christians acquitted of blasphemy have migrated, seven to the United States and three to Germany.

A study conducted by the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic church in 2005 had pointed that of the 647 blasphemy cases reported in the Pakistani media since 1988, 90 cases were against Christians who account for less than three per cent of Pakistan's 165 million, most of whom are Muslims. [378 words]

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Geneva, 16 November (ENI)--A 31-year-old pastor from the Church of South India, the Rev. Anderson Jeremiah, has won the 2005-2006 Lombard theological essay prize, says the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. The US$1000 prize presented by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the prize donors the Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch Bank and the Lombard family was handed out at a ceremony in Geneva on 15 November.

Jeremiah is currently a postgraduate research student at the New College, University of Edinburgh. The theme for the essay award for young pastors and theological students was "Water, source of life: socio-economic, theological and interreligious perspectives", said the alliance in a statement. Fourteen submissions were received from around the world from pastors and theological students aged 35 years and younger.

The second prize, of $800, was won by the Rev. Clifford Rawlins, 34, of the Presbyterian Church in Trinidad and Tobago, who is a post graduate student and a lecturer with Codrington College, Barbados. The $600 third prize went to the Rev. Carola Ruth Tron, 30, of the Waldensian Evangelical Church of the River Plate in Uruguay. Among those on the international jury were Reformed theologians: Allan Boesak of South Africa, François Bovon of Switzerland, Jane Dempsey Douglass of the United States, Antonio Mendonça of Brazil and Elizabeth Tapia of the Philippines.

The Lombard Prize is named after the late Georges Lombard, general treasurer of the Reformed alliance from 1948 to 1970, whose family, along with the Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch Bank, established the award to encourage and support exceptional students and young pastors from WARC member churches in 107 countries. [280 words]

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Cape Town, 15 November (ENI)--Two weeks before a deadline set by the South African Constitutional Court, the country's lower house of Parliament has approved a Civil Union Bill which will allow homosexual couples to register their unions, giving them the same rights as heterosexual couples, despite strong protests from a number of religious groups. South Africa became the first country in Africa and the fifth in the world to legalise gay sex marriage when its National Assembly voted 230 to 41 to remove language in the proposed law which created separate categories for same and opposite sex unions.

Prior to the vote, which followed public hearings in the country's nine provinces, there were numerous petitions and demonstrations by religious groups expressing opposition to the proposals, some warning of the wrath of God if it were passed. Some groups also accused the ruling African National Congress, which did not allow its parliamentarians a free vote on the new law, of being "eurocentric" for its support of the legislation. Countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and other African countries have banned homosexuality.

During the debate, the African Christian Democratic Party opposed the bill on religious grounds, and also did not allow its members a free vote. Its leader, the Rev Kenneth Meshoe said: "Parliament has gone too far and is testing God's patience." He claimed that the ANC and those supporting the bill were inviting serious trouble on themselves, without even considering the impact it will have on future generations.

Gay and lesbian groups welcomed the passing of the bill, which must still be approved by the upper chamber of Parliament - the Council of Provinces - and must be signed into law by President Mbeki. Home affairs minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, said the law was only a temporary measure, noting that a fuller marriage law would be formulated to harmonise the several pieces of marriage legislation now in force. [332 words]

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New Delhi, 13 November (ENI)--Churches in Sri Lanka have decried the shelling by Sri Lankan forces of minority Tamils displaced by ongoing ethnic conflict on the island and the assassination of a Tamil member of parliament. The Commission for Justice and Peace of Sri Lanka's National Christian Council in a statement on 13 November expressed shock over the killings of dozens of civilians at Vaharai in the east and the assassination of outspoken Tamil parliamentary legislator Nadarajah Raviraj from the troubled Jaffna district.

The church grouping said to the government that "expressing regret" was not enough and it called for "corrective measures to ensure that shelling and bombing in civilian areas does not take place even if there is provocation". The NCC, which groups 8 major Protestant churches in the Indian Ocean island also called for "immediate steps to bring the officers responsible to book and pay compensation to the victims".

Anglican Bishop Duleep de Chickera of Colombo said in a statement. "Whatever the provocation, there is no justification for targeting displaced civilians housed in schools," and he rejected government claim that the Tamil rebels were using civilians as human shields. The government had reported that 26 people had been killed in the "unintended" shelling of schools and refugee camps in Vaharai, an area held by Tamil rebels in the eastern Batticoloa district.

However, the Rev. S. Jeyanesan, Batticoloa coordinator in the Jaffna diocese of the Church of South India, told Ecumenical News International on 13 November that 56 civilians, of whom seven were Christians, had been killed in the shelling on a school and tents of those displaced in the fighting. "The displaced are now really scared and do not known where to take shelter," said Jeyanesan pointing out that almost one third of more than 100 people injured in the latest shelling are Christians.

Besides 2500 soldiers and Tamil rebels, more than 500 civilians have been killed in the undeclared war, despite an eroding ceasefire that remains officially in force since President Mahinda Rajapakse assumed office in 2005. [353 words]

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New Delhi, 2 November (ENI)--Church leaders have welcomed the nullification by Kerala state's high court of the election of P.C. Thomas, a Roman Catholic, to India's parliament due to his infringing of a law governing the use of religion during election campaigns. The verdict came on 31 October after a petition was filed by the losing candidate P.M. Ismail of the Left Democratic Front, which is part of the current ruling coalition in the state. Ismail had lost to Joseph in the 2004 national election for the Muvattupuzha constituency seat.

"This is good judgement and we welcome it," Philip N. Thomas (no relation of the lawmaker) who is general secretary of the Kerala Council of Churches, told Ecumenical News International on 2 November. He said Thomas "was certainly guilty of misusing faith and religion for political gains". The Kerala high court declared runner-up Ismail to be the winner of the disputed election.

The Rev. Ipe Joseph, a former general secretary of the National Council of Churches in India, also endorsed the verdict saying "politicians tend to misuse religion for enhancing their political career". Joseph told ENI that Thomas had also behaved in an opportunist manner when he had become a minister in the then coalition government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a party seen backing Hindu intimidation of religious minorities. Thomas was the only Christian in the federal Cabinet.

Ismail's victory was declared after Thomas was found to have broken the law on the use of religion in election campaigns. Before the vote, Thomas had distributed posters carrying a picture of Pope John Paul II, who was pontiff at the time, along with a giant portrait of Mother Teresa. The constituency has a predominance of Catholic voters and this was seen as a ploy to win their votes.

Contesting the election as a nominee of the coalition led by the BJP, Thomas had squeezed in by a razor-thin margin of 529 votes from the 800 000 votes cast, but the Hindu nationalist party lost the 2004 election. [350 words]

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