New Delhi, 27 October (ENI)--Church leaders in Sri Lanka say they hope talks between the government and Tamil rebels taking place in Geneva will help restart a stalled peace process in the island nation. "We are happy that contrary to general expectations, both parties are ready for talks," the Rev. Kingsley Perera, chairperson of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka, told Ecumenical News International from Colombo. "This itself is an achievement."

The two sides met in Switzerland in February but since then there has been an upsurge in fighting, despite a fragile Norwegian-brokered cease-fire in force since 2002. The renewed violence has claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians and has displaced many thousands more. Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini was to open the two days of talks in Geneva on 28 October alongside Norway's minister for international development, Erik Solheim, the Swissinfo news service reported.

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Talim Eelam are seeking autonomy for Tamil-majority areas in the predominantly Buddhist island nation of mainly Sinhalese speakers. "Bringing them to together at the same table face to face at this moment is a great achievement," said Rohan Edrisinha, an Anglican and director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, a Sri Lankan non-governmental group that promotes conflict resolution.

Edrisinha, a former chairperson of the National Christian Council's justice and peace commission, said the international community had exerted "tremendous pressure on both groups to return to the negotiating table".

Earlier in October, a Tamil suicide bomber drove a truck full of explosives into a military convoy killing 115 security personnel, while Sri Lanka's military has been conducting land, sea and air operations against rebel positions. A two-decade civil war prior to the 2002 cease-fire claimed nearly 65 000 lives and displaced more than 1.8 million people. [308 words]

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Nagpur, India, 23 October (ENI)--Christians are in the forefront in providing much of the care and treatment for people with HIV in India, but church workers say a lack of understanding about the pandemic is perpetuating stigma and discrimination. "Pastors without proper awareness drive away HIV people from the church. This only leads to their isolation and adds to the stigma," said David Cherian, who coordinates the social work of the Church of South India in the country's southern state of Kerala.

Christians operate more than a quarter of HIV care centres in the world's second most populous country, which according to UNAIDS has the highest number of people living with the virus in the world. The UN statistics put the number of people in India with HIV at 5.7 million, while the Indian government puts the figure at 5.2 million.

"When the pastors are judgmental and prejudiced, HIV people try to hide their status and keep away from the church," Cherian said. "This will only negate the good work our people are doing." Cherian was one of the participants at a recent 14-16 October seminar organized by the Christian Conference of Asia to promote awareness about the pandemic.

"Almost everyone was unanimous that the clergy and others should be better informed about AIDS," the Asian Christian group's HIV/AIDS programme consultant, the Rev. Philip Kuruvilla, told Ecumenical News International. "Otherwise, all our efforts will go down the drain."

Ashok Rao, manager of the Baptist Christian Medical Centre at Jorhat in north-eastern Assam state said that even medical professionals working in church institutions needed to be educated about HIV and AIDS.

Rao told ENI: "I was stunned when doctors suggested to me to transfer a critical patient to a government hospital when they knew he was HIV positive." [310 words]

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Hong Kong, 18 October (ENI)--Integrating Christian values into higher education in Asia has helped safeguard academic integrity, says the new leader of an Asian Christian higher education body, a former professor of ethnic studies at a US university. "Asia's economy is booming, but there is a great need for spirituality," Jun Xing, the new vice-president in charge of programmes for the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia, has told Ecumenical News International. He was speaking after the 5 October meeting of the board at its Hong Kong office.

"Universities teach knowledge, skill and technology. But we should also focus on the education of the whole-person," Xing said, while issuing a warning that materialism could damage academics. "Look at the South Korea scientist who used fraud in his academic research," said Xing. "Intellectual corruption also happens in China and many other places," he noted, adding: "We need values and faiths."

Xing was born in Beijing and spent some of his career in China's foreign ministry. He said one of his priorities working in China is to even out the higher educational quality between the country's developing cities and developed cities, where there are sometimes large disparities. The former US professor said the board served more than 100 universities and runs academic seminars and training programmes.

Xing said he is not a baptised Christian, but he does "believe in Christian values". He earned his doctorate in the United States during the 1980s and was a professor at Oregon State University before joining the board in September. Xing said that studying the history of the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) in China inspired him and was one reason why he joined the ecumenical body. Patricia Stranahan, the president of the United Board, said the body did not proselytise, but it did "believe in social activism and academic excellence to express Christian education".

In Asian countries with Christian universities and colleges, the United Board cooperates with institutions to strengthen their Christian identity. In countries where Christian higher institutions are non-existent, it emphasises projects that reflect its commitment to Christian service. The board's programme expenses in 2004-05 totalled US$5.5 million in 12 Asian countries. [374 words]

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Nagpur, India, 16 October (ENI)--Christians and other faith groups have challenged anti-conversion laws enacted by some Indian states by publicly burning copies of the controversial legislation and carrying out mass conversions of Hindus. Thousands of people gathered at a rally for religious freedom in Nagpur in central India on 14 October to witness the mass conversions of low-caste Hindu Dalits to Christianity and Buddhism.

Many of the converts came from the states of Gujarat and Chhattisgarh where anti-conversion laws are in force. By converting, they hope to escape the prejudice and discrimination they often face as Dalits. "Religious freedom is the key to dalit dignity. That is why we decided to hold a rally like this," Udit Raj, a Dalit leader who converted from Hinduism to Buddhism in 2001, told Ecumenical News International.

The day marked the 50th anniversary of the adoption of Buddhism by the scholar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar who urged low-caste Indians to escape the Hindu caste system by converting. "This is an occasion to celebrate religious freedom after the example shown by Dr Ambedkar 50 years ago," said Joseph D'Souza, president of the All India Christian Council which organized the Christian protest with other groups.

The burning of a copy of the state of Gujarat's anti-conversion law was loudly applauded by the 10 000 strong-crowd. Christian hymns were sung as an evangelical bishop and four pastors performed baptisms for about 50 Hindus converting to Christianity in a water tank there. Although discrimination on the basis of caste is against the Indian constitution and prohibited by many laws, its practice is still widespread, especially in rural India say Dalits, who were once called "untouchables".

Delegates and observers from Britain, Canada and the United States attended the Nagpur rally. "Religious freedom is the core to the emancipation of the dalits and no external force should interfere in the freedom to choose his faith," said Nanci Ricks, executive director of the US-based Dalit Freedom Network. [335 words]

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New Delhi, 9 October (ENI)--Christian groups in India have hailed rights activist Ruth Manorama, a member of the Church of South India, one of the joint winners of this year's Right Livelihood Award, sometimes called the "Alternative Nobel Prize". "We are indeed proud of her," said Bishop D. K. Sahu, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in India after the announcement that Manorama had been selected for the award that honours people working on issues such as peace and human rights.

Founded in 1980, the Right Livelihood Awards are presented annually in the Swedish parliament. Announcing the news of the award to Manorama, the Right Livelihood Award foundation described her as "India's most effective organiser of and advocate for dalit women, belonging to the 'scheduled castes' sometimes also called 'untouchables'". It noted: "Although discrimination on the basis of caste is against the Indian constitution and prohibited by many laws, its practice is still widespread, especially in rural India."

The 54-year old Indian activist is herself a dalit, which means "trampled upon" in Sanskrit. "This is not a recognition for me alone but for the cause I stand for," Manorama told Ecumenical News International. She said her share of the 2 million Swedish kronor (US$271 000) prize money would be used to expand her centre for dalit women based in Bangalore. Manorama is president of the National Federation of Dalit Women, and a founding member of the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights, which groups more than 1000 dalit action groups of all faiths.

"This award is a recognition for the courage and commitment with which Ms Ruth Manorama has been engaged in fighting for justice and also for mainstreaming dalit rights and concerns in global human rights discourse," the national dalit campaign stated. The award is to be presented on 8 December in Stockholm.

:: Manorama shares the 2006 award with Chico Whitaker Ferreira from Brazil, a Roman Catholic activist who helped create the World Social Forum; Daniel Ellsberg, a former Pentagon official who leaked the "Pentagon papers", an action that many people believe contributed to the end of the Vietnam war; and the International Poetry Festival of Medellin in Colombia, which helps promote action against violence in the streets of one of the world's most dangerous cities. [392 words]

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New Delhi, 2 October (ENI)--The first women priests in Sri Lanka's Anglican church say their ordination is a dream come true. "I have no words to describe my joy," the Rev. Chandrika Mayurawathie, one of the first three women ordained in September into the Church of Ceylon told Ecumenical News International. "I have waited and prayed for this ordination for years," said Mayurawathie, who completed a bachelor's degree in theology in 1996 and was speaking from Colombo.

Mayurawathie along with Malini Devananda, whose husband is an Anglican priest, and Glory Jeyaraj were ordained on 14 September by Bishop Duleep de Chickera of Colombo in the presence of hundreds of church members at the cathedral in the capital. "This is a historic event. We are all happy finally that we have our women priests," Bishop Chickera told ENI.

The ordination was the culmination of a three-decade process that began with the debate on women's ordination in the Anglican clergy synod in 1974. The three women had been ordained as deacons in 2003 - a decade after the diocesan council affirmed the decisions of the Lambeth Conference on women's ordination in 1988.

While eagerly waiting a decade for her ordination as a priest, the 45-year old Mayurawathie said she decided not to marry "to serve the people of God better, and with full commitment". The Rev. Glory Jeyaraj who is now in charge of the Christ Church pastorate at Ragale in the mountainous southern Nuera Eliya region said, "Now, I have full freedom as a pastor." She had served the church as a lay church worker for 10 years. Jeyaraj noted she has "no problem" in dealing with the congregation despite being the first woman pastor there.

The Methodist church and the Jaffna diocese of the Church of South India, which has congregations in Sri Lanka, had already ordained women in the region. [325 words]

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