Blantyre/Nairobi, 30 May (ENI)--Muslims in Malawi have added their voices to calls by churches for the banning of "The Da Vinci Code" movie, saying that it is offensive to Jesus who is revered in Islam as a prophet of Allah.

"The movie, in representing the view that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, has insulted and blasphemed a belief by not only the Christian faith but also the Muslim community," said Imran Shareef, general secretary of the Muslim Association of Malawi. Shareef described Jesus as a "revered prophet of Allah" and said the belief that Jesus was free from sin was central to the faith of Muslims. He urged all religious groups to "openly condemn this act of blasphemy".

Meanwhile in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, the Kenya Church, a loose gathering of more than 40 Protestant and Pentecostal denominations, compared the makers of the film to Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus for 30 silver coins. "This film is another betrayal of Jesus Christ by the producers and theatre owners for a few pieces of silver," the group said in a statement released at a 23 May media conference.

"We do not need to underscore the fate that befell Judas. May they equally perish with their silver," said the statement read by Pastor David Oginde of the Nairobi Pentecostal Church. Theatres in Kenya have reported huge demand for tickets for the movie, based on the blockbuster novel by Dan Brown which depicts a Vatican conspiracy that suppressed a supposed marriage of Jesus to Mary Magdalene.

"The Da Vinci Code" has not yet been shown in Malawi but some churches there have also urged the government to ban the movie. "The film is blasphemous and is contradicting the Christian faith," Church of Central Africa Presbyterian general secretary Daniel Gunya told The Nation newspaper on 27 May. "Just like the Muslims reacted to the cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, we would not sit down and take no action."

Still, the Rev. Stanislaus Magombo of the Roman Catholic Secretariat in Lilongwe said there was nothing wrong in allowing people to see the film. "It is a movie," said Magombo. "I don't think it can have any impact on people's beliefs." [383 words]

[COURTESY TO ENI AS SOURCE]

Warsaw, 26 May (ENI)--Pope Benedict VXI has called on churches to build closer ties with one another through joint charitable initiatives, as well as by fostering inter-denominational marriages and families.

"Despite all the differences that need to be overcome in inter-denominational dialogue, it is legitimate to attribute charitable engagement to the ecumenical community of Christ's disciples in search of full unity," the pope said at an inter-denominational prayer meeting at Warsaw's Lutheran Holy Trinity church.

The 79-year-old pontiff was speaking on the first day of a 25-28 May pilgrimage to Poland, his first outside Italy and his native Germany since taking office in April 2005. He said he had made "restoration of full unity among Christians" a priority of his pontificate, and has said he would support ecumenical aspirations "steeped in prayer, mutual forgiveness and holiness of life."

Benedict, noted, however, that Christian churches would become "more credible before the world" if they met "contemporary charitable challenges" together, and promoted marriage and family life across denominational boundaries. "In today's world, in which international and inter-cultural relations are multiplying, it happens increasingly often that young people from different traditions, religions or Christian denominations decide to start a family," Benedict XVI told the meeting. Present were Polish Christian leaders from the Autocephallous Orthodox, Evangelical Augsburg, Reformed and Methodist churches, as well as Baptists, Polish-Catholics and Old Catholic Mariavites.

"Thanks to the spread of ecumenical dialogue on a larger scale, the decision can lead to the formation of a practical laboratory of unity. For this to happen, there is a need for mutual goodwill, understanding and maturity in faith of both parties, and also of the communities from which they come," said Benedict.

Minority churches have complained of intolerance in Poland, where Roman Catholics make up 96 per cent of the 38 million population, according to 2006 figures. However, the country's Ecumenical Council (PRE), a grouping of seven denominations, agreed a mutual recognition of baptisms with Roman Catholics in 2000 and is completing an ecumenical Bible translation, while several member-churches also dialogue with the Catholics.

In his speech, Pope Benedict welcomed the drafting of an ecumenical document on marriage and family life, which would establish "principles acceptable to all for contracting inter-denominational marriages". Speaking after the meeting, the ecumenical council's Orthodox president, Archbishop Jeremiasz Achimiuk, told Poland's Catholic information agency he believed Benedict XVI understood "the importance of ecumenical dialogue" and genuinely wished to broaden it.

The head of Poland's Lutheran church, Bishop Janusz Jagucki, who hosted the meeting, said he hoped Polish denominations would achieve a mutual recognition of the Eucharist. The meeting was also attended by the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano and Cardinal Walter Kasper, the papal representative on Christian unity. It was the second meeting in the Holy Trinity church after on in 1991 between minority denominations and the pope's predecessor, John Paul II. [489 words]

[COURTESY TO ENI AS SOURCE]

Jerusalem, 26 May (ENI)--More than 70 per cent of Palestinians residing in Bethlehem, the town of Jesus' birth, now live below the poverty line following cuts in international aid to the new Palestinian Authority, now led by the militant Islamist movement Hamas, says an advocacy group representing local residents.

Open Bethlehem cites figures from Britains Christian Aid saying three out of four Palestinians will be living below the UN poverty line of an income of 1.1 British pounds (US$1.85) a day by 2008. It said the situation of Christians in Bethlehem will soon be worse than for those people living in Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Angola.

It called on "church leaders, clergy, lay Christians and all who care about peace and justice to speak out against the EU [European Union] sanctions and support the people of Bethlehem at this critical time".

"Once a prosperous middle-class town, Bethlehem has been economically suffocated and the post-election sanctions have brought the local population to the brink of disaster," said Open Bethlehem director Leila Sansour in a statement. Open Bethlehem seeks to highlight the plight of people living in Bethlehem which has seen its economy shrink since a Palestinian uprising began almost six years ago and Israel started building a barrier to stem a Palestinian suicide bombing campaign. The barbed-wire fences and concrete walls have cut Bethlehem off from its sister city of Jerusalem.

"We are very concerned for our students and their families - especially those whose parents are teachers, social workers and government employees. Thirty per cent of the University's budget comes from student tuition fees. Families are having great difficulty in making these payments. They are struggling to buy food, medicine, and their basic needs, never mind their tuition fees," said Brother Daniel Casey, vice-chancellor of the Roman Catholic-run Bethlehem University.

Church leaders have expressed concern that international aid cuts to the Palestinian government will cause economic hardship among Palestinians of all walks of life, including members of the Holy Land's already embattled Christian community.

The international community has frozen hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinian government as it demands that Hamas, which heads the government, recognise Israel, renounce violence and suicide bombings and support peace initiatives. Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, has so far refused to accede. [397 words]

[COURTESY TO ENI AS SOURCE]

New Delhi, 23 May (ENI)--Christians in Nepal have joined in widespread rejoicing over the country's dramatic political developments that have marked the end of the monarchy in the Hindu kingdom and its transformation into a secular country. "The Christian community of Nepal welcomes all the decisions taken by the reinstated parliament including making the nation a secular country through a historical declaration of parliament," said the National Christian Council of Nepal in a statement.

Nepal's legislature on 18 May adopted a resolution scrapping the Hindu monarchy, making the king a taxpayer and stripping him of all executive powers including that of the commander-in-chief of the army. The proclamation also brought the armed forces under the control of the government and renamed the Royal Nepal Army as the Nepal Army.

Christian groups in Nepal held thanksgiving service on 18 May along with the rest of the nation as the country enshrined laws making the parliament "sovereign and all-powerful". "We are thrilled by these dramatic developments," Kalai Bahadur Rokaya, the general secretary of Nepal's Christian council, told Ecumenical News International while he was in New Delhi. "None of us expected things would change so fast."

Since democracy was restored in Nepal following massive protests in April, Rokaya said, church groups had prayed for early elections to the constituent assembly that could abolish the Hindu monarchy and turn Nepal a secular country. "Now everything has come in one go," he noted.

The Rev. Jit Ghale, secretary of the Katmandu Valley Christian Council said in a statement that the changes would enable Christians "to take the word of God to every village and to every people of Nepal". Under the constitution of the Hindu kingdom, conversion is banned in Nepal, churches cannot be built and Christian organizations cannot be registered.

"There was a time when anyone could be arrested for preaching the word of God to individuals. Now it is a secular country and we will not be discriminated on the basis of religion," said Ghale who said he had been assaulted by police and members of his Buddhist community after he embraced Christianity and later became a pastor. [370 words]

[COURTESY TO ENI AS SOURCE]

New Delhi, 19 May (ENI)-- Vociferous Christian protests against the Da Vinci Code movie have resulted in India's federal Censor Board prescribing an "adults only" certificate and for showings to carry a disclaimer it as "a work of fiction". "We are happy that our demands have been enforced exactly as we recommended," Roman Catholic Bishop Anil Couto, auxiliary bishop of Delhi archdiocese, told Ecumenical News International on 19 May.

The censor board cleared the movie for release on 18 May after Christian leaders led by Bishop Couto gave their written approval for its release subject to their two conditions. Before the go-ahead for showings was given, there was a special preview of the movie by leaders from India's Christian minority along with Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, India's federal minister for information and broadcasting.

A protest letter to the government said the story line was "unacceptable to the Christian community". Endorsed by leaders from different Christian denominations, the letter said the movie "tries to present fiction as truth and there is a likelihood that many people could end up with a distorted and erroneous view of the Church and Christianity".

"We should thank the government for taking our sentiments seriously and incorporating the conditions we made," said the Rev Valson Thampu, a Church of North India pastor and author who attended the preview. Thampu told ENI after the showing he felt "even Christians have been misinformed about the content of the movie" as there was no visual portrayal in the movie as feared of Jesus and his disciple Mary Magdalene, whom the book claimed had parented a child together.

Dolphy D'Souza, president of the Mumbai Catholic Council that had demanded the banning of the movie, said, however, "We are disappointed." Still he added, "Nothing is happening here," when asked if protests were continuing in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, which has more than half a million Christian residents.

Due to the insertion by distributors of the 15-second disclaimer of the movie as "a work of fiction" at both the beginning and end, the release in Indian theatres scheduled for 19 May has been delayed. Ron Howard, director of the Da Vinci Code, told journalists at the Cannes Film Festival the disclaimer and adult certificate would undermine the entertainment value of the movie. "I just feel if the beginning of any sort of any mystery thriller comments on the reality of the story, you are surely undermining some of the entertainment value. Adult movie audiences are really underestimated," Howard said. [434 words]

[COURTESY TO ENI AS SOURCE]

Geneva, 18 May (ENI)--The executive committee of the World Council of Churches has called on Iran to implement a moratorium on its uranium enrichment programme, to recognise the state of Israel, and to support international efforts to end terrorism. Other countries should also contribute to global security, urged the executive of the world's largest grouping of denominations comprising 342 mainly Anglican, Orthodox and Protestant churches from more than 120 countries. It is meeting at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute near Geneva from 16-19 May.

Urging Iran to "fully comply and cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Security Council directives and requests", the WCC noted that "a verifiable moratorium on all Iranian uranium enrichment and reprocessing efforts" is immediately required.

The statement evokes Iran's record of "clandestine nuclear research" and its "failure" to accomplish IAEA requirements, for which it has "lost the confidence of many in the international community". The moratorium is an "extraordinary" requirement for Iran to regain "international trust", but which "does not deny in principle Iran's right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes".

The WCC executive committee also referred to "hateful and irresponsible statements" made "by the Iranian leadership against the Jewish people and the state of Israel". The statement said, "Iran's acceptance and recognition of the state of Israel within the borders of 1967, and Iran's support for efforts by the international community to put an end to violence against unarmed and innocent civilians for political or religious aims", are among "commitments" needed "to begin to address broader security concerns".

In this context, the WCC committee rejects a "military solution" and requests a "multilateral diplomatic" approach to resolve the controversy around Iran's nuclear programme. Such a solution should include "strengthening the IAEA capacity for inspections".

The committee also called on the United States to honour the "negative security assurance" given in 1995 by the five nuclear weapon states signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Those countries pledged "never to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against any non-nuclear weapon state signatory to the NPT". The WCC notes "other states are also in serious violation of their non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament obligations".

In particular, the five nuclear state NPT signatories (Britain, China, France, Russia and the US) which have not implemented agreed steps are called to "accelerate their efforts toward verifiable and irreversible reductions and ultimate elimination of their nuclear arsenals".

Meanwhile, India, Israel and Pakistan, which have remained outside the treaty, and North Korea, which has withdrawn, are called to join or rejoin the treaty as verifiable non-nuclear weapon states.

Full statement: www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=2258 [443 words]

[COURTESY TO ENI AS SOURCE]

New Delhi, 17 May (ENI)--Mounting protests demanding the banning of showing of the "Da Vinci Code" as blasphemous have pressured the Indian government into putting on hold the release of the movie until Christian leaders have reviewed it and given their approval. "If anything in the film affects their [Christian] sensibilities, we will not allow the movie to be screened," Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, India 's federal information and broadcasting minister told journalists on 16 May.

Though the Censor Board had cleared the film, the federal ministry overruled it saying the movie could be released only after a decision was made after the Catholic Churches' Association of India, Christian members of parliament, Censor Board members as well as the minister himself previewed the movie on 17 May in New Delhi. The Indian Express daily newspaper carried a 17 May front-page headline saying: "Government says let church decide whether the country can watch Da Vinci Code." The film was due open to open for public showings on 19 May, when a final decision will be made.

The Rev. Donald De Souza, deputy secretary general of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, who among those picked to preview the movie, thanked the government for its "sensitivity to the feelings of the Christian community". "This is a country where a lot of misinformation is spread against the Christians. The movie could be used for anti-Christian propaganda," De Souza told Ecumenical News International in noting apprehension about the film of a book by author Dan Brown which has upset many Christians by portraying Jesus as having a child with his follower Mary Magdalene.

The Global Council of Indian Christians hailed the government move while street protests were growing across India, one in which Catholic nuns in Mumbai have begun an indefinite hunger strike demanding a ban on the movie. And Joseph Dias, the general secretary of the Catholic Secular Forum in Mumbai, told the media on 17 May that he will "fast unto death" unless the movie is banned.

Goa state, which was for hundreds of years a Portuguese colony and has a strong Catholic presence, has joined the call for a ban. [374 words]

[COURTESY TO ENI AS SOURCE]

New Delhi, 16 May (ENI)--An India cardinal has issued a pastoral letter declaring that drunken driving is a sin and that those who commit it should confess. In a letter read on 14 May in parishes under his Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese in the southern state of Kerala, Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil lamented that more than 3000 people were killed in road accidents out of the 33 million people living in the state during 2005.

"The number of accidents is going up daily and people are literally getting murdered on the roads," said Cardinal Vithayathil who holds the title of Major Archbishop as the head of the 3.5 million autonomous Kerala-based Syro Malabar church, which falls under the Vatican. "We have to do something to awaken the moral conscience of the people. Our people should realise it [drunken driving] is a sinful act," said Cardinal Vithayathil from Kochi, the commercial capital of Kerala in an interview with Ecumenical News International. "Maybe, drunken driving is not as serious as abortion. But, it's killing and maiming the breadwinners of thousands of families."

The latest federal government road accident data shows that tiny Kerala state, which accounts for only 3 per cent of India's 1 billion people, records 12 per cent of the country's road accidents. Cardinal Vithayathil hopes his message will trigger thinking in all quarters including government officials to treat drunken driving as a serious crime and to tighten traffic norms. Under the exiting loose traffic practices, even those guilty of causing deaths due to reckless driving are given bail and seldom get punished by the courts.

Noting the high rate of alcohol consumption prevalent in Kerala, the cardinal said that loose traffic norms "worsens the situation". Apart from the easy availability of alcoholic beverages, more than 100 million litres of hard liquor is consumed in Kerala each year, providing the state government with more than 10 per cent of its 35 billion rupees (US$780 million) revenue.

:: Many of the more than 6 million Christians who account for 19 per cent of the Kerala population trace their faith to St Thomas the apostle who reached the Kerala coast around AD 52 in the company of spice traders from the Middle East. [382 words]

[COURTESY TO ENI AS SOURCE]

New Delhi, 15 May (ENI)--Churches in India's southern Tamil Nadu state have hailed the drubbing in regional elections received by the ruling party which had backed an anti-conversion law seen as harmful to Christians. "Definitely, Christians have reasons to rejoice," Esther Kathiroli, secretary of Tamil Nadu Council of Churches, told Ecumenical News International on 15 May from the state capital of Chennai. "Christians were let down by the [outgoing] government and our people seem to have given a clear verdict."

The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party and its allies could muster only 69 of the 234 seats in the state legislature when the votes were counted on 11 May. On the other hand, the opposition alliance of Democratic Progressive Alliance that had stood with the Christians during their protests against the anti-conversion bill, garnered 163 seats, a two thirds majority in the state legislature.

"We are proud of the people for exercising their democratic rights responsibly," the Rev. Chandran Paul Martin, executive secretary of United Evangelical Lutheran Church of India that groups 11 Lutheran churches, told ENI from Chennai. Martin noted that most Christians and other minorities voted against the ruling party for its failure on several counts including the controversial anti-conversion bill "that hurt the minorities badly". "Some church leaders even campaigned publicly against the ruling party," he said.

Ignoring protests by Christians, Muslims, civil rights groups and opposition parties, the ruling party had in 2002 passed the controversial bill to ban conversions by "'fraud, force or inducement" without debate in the state assembly.

Christians account for just over 6 per cent of Tamil Nadu's 62 million people. Muslims make up 8 per cent. [295 words]

[COURTESY TO ENI AS SOURCE]