Free Republic

We are losing our children! Research indicates that 70% of teens who are involved in a church youth group will stop attending church … [1] Similar statements from Christian leaders aren’t new, but many still can’t seem to identify the root cause of the problem. However, most front-line evangelists in the Western world have reached a consensus. The following quote is from a person who shares his faith more times in a month than most Christians ever will in their lives...

» 09/22/2009 17:44INDIACatholic priest donates kidney to save Hindu manby Nirmala CarvalhoIn Kerala, Father Chiramel offers one of his kidneys to an unknown recipient. The priest said he was inspired by the ‘Year for Priest’. “For me donating an organ is a unique and privileged opportunity to share in Christ’s suffering.” New Delhi (AsiaNews) – Fr Davis Chiramel, a 49-year-old Catholic priest from Kerala, donated one of his kidneys to a complete stranger. The clergyman is parish priest at St Francis Xavier Church in Vadanapally (Kerala). Earlier this year he decided to help a Hindu father of two, a...

<p>It's a tradition that's over 700 years old and it involves dangling and then dropping infants from the roof of a mosque.</p> <p>On Thursday hundreds of babies under the age of two were shaken in the air before being dropped off the roof of the Baba Umer Durga, a Muslim shrine, in western India. The act is part of an ancient ritual that is believed to ensure good health for the children and prosperity for their families.</p>

Festivities in a new temple dedicated to the Indian monkey god Hanuman  in Frisco, Texas, earlier this month remind us that a minority of religions exists within the shores of the United States that is relatively silent. The faith that is the subject here, of course, is Hinduism, which in that North Texas town, at least, is enjoying an "expanding population," according to the Dallas Morning News. Despite the fact that Indians have been quietly enriching the American melting pot for decades to centuries, few non-Indians know much about the colorful religion of Hinduism. In actuality, the term "Hinduism" represents...

ISTANBUL - Just when one thought TVshows could not get more outrageous, Kanal T comes up with the idea to make an imam, a priest, a rabbi and a Buddhist monk try to convert 10 atheists. While some fear the program could create problems, a sociologist says this just shows the yearning to learn more about religions A new show set to grace Turkish television screens will see a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a Jewish rabbi and a Buddhist monk competing to turn 10 unbelievers into devotees of their own faith each week. The show, "Tövbekarlar Yarışıyor," which can...

There's coming a wind of balance ~ ~ ~ , Prominent change is about to enter your life , Life changing events calendared in my loving kindness for those in my will , I shall use you as a Horn of Cornucopia to pour out the fragrance and fruit of my very womb upon the multitudes , For you are my wellsprings of life in my name , Salvation ! Fire ! Hunger and thirst after righteousness ! The Blossom of Unity carrying the peddles of my love ! , Breath in ~ ~ (o: my fragrant words , Devour...

There's coming a wind of balance ~ ~ ~ , Prominent change is about to enter your life , Life changing events calendared in my loving kindness for those in my will , I shall use you as a Horn of Cornucopia to pour out the fragrance and fruit of my very womb upon the multitudes , For you are my wellsprings of life in my name , Salvation ! Fire ! Hunger and thirst after righteousness ! The Blossom of Unity carrying the peddles of my love ! , Breath in ~ ~ (o: my fragrant words , Devour...

MARYKNOLL, N.Y. (CNS) -- Imagine that the youngest child in a religiously observant family comes home from high school and announces to his prominent father that he is converting to a minority religion he heard about from his principal. Predictably, the reaction is shock, disbelief and resistance. But Stephen Taluja, who was raised a Sikh in Punjab state, India, converted to Catholicism anyway. Now 27, he had his father's blessing when he was ordained as a Maryknoll priest May 30. His ordination Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York at the Queen of Apostles Chapel at...

(CNSNews.com) – Following complaints from a Muslim group, an online game company removed a video game in which “Jesus,” “Mohammed,” “Buddha” and other religious figures engage in combat. But on Wednesday -- one day after yanking the game – the makers uploaded a new, tongue-in-cheek version. This time, rather than have the religious figures fight each other, gamers are invited to “give love and respect” to them. This is achieved by mouse-clicking on the figures in a bid to prevent them from disappearing. They vanish anyway, and the screen then displays a message, over the backdrop of a burning village,...

CAIRO — An influential Islamic group branded an online video game depicting religious figures fighting each other as offensive to Muslims and Christians and successfully demanded Tuesday that it be taken offline. In the game "Faith Fighter," caricatures of Jesus, the Prophet Muhammad, Buddha, God and the Hindu god Ganesh fight each other against a backdrop of burning buildings. God attacks with bolts of lighting and pillars of fire while the turbaned Muhammad can summon a burning black meteorite. The Saudi-based Organization of the Islamic Conference, which represents most Muslim nations, said it should be removed from the Internet. "The...

NEW YORK (CBS) ― A public school principal is facing charges of major misbehavior. Education officials are looking into a reports that the man led religious chants against people he considered enemies. CBS 2 HD spoke with outraged moms -- and the principal. Parents at P.S. 24 in Riverdale say their principal is unprincipled. "It all comes down to his lack of competence as a leader," said Unjoo Trebach of the school's parents association. Philip Scharper is under investigation by the city's Department of Education for potentially crossing the line between church and state with Buddhism. "He has tried to...

It was good to hear some encouraging news from the Church of England, reported by Robert last week. However, little good seems to come from the The Episcopal Church (TEC) in USA. The Church of England Newspaper (27 February 2009) reported that the Anglican Communion’s first Anglican-Buddhist bishop was recently elected at a special convention of the Diocese of Northern Michigan. Concerns had been raised about the suitability of a professed Buddhist who said he had received Buddhist “lay ordination” and was “walking the path of Christianity and Zen Buddhism together” as well as the fact that he was the...

He fought Fascism in the 1940s armed with little more than a crumpled suit, a bemused look and funny walk. Now Charlie Chaplin is embroiled in another battle of beliefs, this time with India’s Hindu extremists. Radicals in the southern state of Karnataka have stymied plans to erect a 20m (67ft) statue of the film star because he was a Christian. The move comes amid a campaign against Western culture that has raised concerns that parts of India are being “Talebanised” by Hinduism’s far Right. The Chaplin sculpture, which would have shown him in his baggy trousers and bowler hat,...

Washington, DC—An Episcopal priest who has received a Buddhist lay ordination has been elected bishop in the Diocese of Northern Michigan. The Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester, who has served in the diocese since 2001, was elected on the first ballot and received 88 percent of the delegate votes. *** Forrester, who has been identified by his former bishop Jim Kelsey as ‘walking the path of Christianity and Zen Buddhism together, is not the first Episcopal clergyman to practice dual faiths. In 2004, Pennsylvania priest Bill Melnyk was revealed to be a druid; while in 2007 Seattle priest Ann Holmes Redding...

In the Mumbai bombings, the world has seen another example of how religions can conflict. The Washington Post's Craig Whitlock and Karen De Young summarized the India/Pakistan situation this way: "The roots of the long-running conflict are religious: A majority of India's population is Hindu, while most Pakistanis are Muslim." Of course, the India bombing is not the only place where religious conflict is playing itself out. In his new book, "World of Faith and Freedom," Thomas Farr, the former director of the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom, argues that foreign policy makers cannot afford a hands-off approach...

“We will be here for you,” said Han Huimin to his paralyzed ex girlfriend, Wu Yueying. “We will take care of you as long as we are alive.” Han’s wife, Xu Minfang, also standing by Wu’s sick bed, nodded reassuringly at Wu. This is the 34th year since Wu was paralyzed after a traffic accident back in 1974. At that time, Wu was Han’s first girlfriend. Han attended to her since then, and refused to consider another girlfriend. He was determined to take care of Wu all his life, even at the cost of his own marriage. Three years later...

RATANPUR, Nepal – The teenage boy revered by many as a reincarnation of Buddha sat silently in the jungle as he blessed his devotees Wednesday with a light tap on the head, which they consider the touch of the divine. His face was still, his long hair spilled over his white robe, and he never said a word. The followers of Ram Bahadur Bamjan, 18, believe he has been meditating without food and water since he was first spotted in the jungles of southern Nepal in 2005, when believers say he spent months without moving, sitting with his eyes closed...

CNA).- Addressing the violent attacks against Christians in India was the focus of this year’s message to Hindus for the celebration of Diwali from Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the president of the pontifical council for Inter-religious Dialogue. This year Diwali, or the Festival of Lights, falls on October 28, and for the occasion, Cardinal Tauran has penned a message in English entitled, "Christians and Hindus: Together in Favor of Non-violence." The celebration of Diwali should be an opportunity to consider “how we can live harmoniously in today's society, witnessing to the truth, light and hope,” Cardinal Tauran wrote. Saying that “religions...

Q: Does your faith believe it's OK to celebrate Halloween? Why, or why not? Although Halloween has roots as a religious holiday, it is celebrated as a secular event in the U.S. While there are some in the Jewish community who refrain from participating, most Jewish children eagerly anticipate the day and enjoy dressing in costumes and going out trick-or-treating. There is little negative concern about the holiday other than over indulging from the contents of the candy bag. Rabbi Matt Friedman Temple Beth Israel, Redding When I was a kid, Halloween was a fun event, with perhaps just a...

BHUBNESHWAR, India — Indian authorities arrested four people and suspended a police officer Friday following a medical report indicating a Catholic nun was likely raped in an attack by a Hindu mob during religious clashes, a state government spokesman said.

Father Ranjit Tigga has spent most of his life as a Jesuit missionary in rural India working with poor tribal villagers near the state of Orissa, southeast of Calcutta near the Bay of Bengal. Father Francis Ezhakunnel, another Jesuit missionary, was the director of a leprosy center in the state of Jharkhand, just north of Orissa. And Father Nicolas Santos teaches college in western India. All three Indian priests are now at Marquette University studying for advanced degrees in business administration and communications, so they can return to India and aid in the advancement of those they serve. Although immersed...

According to witnesses, Saturday afternoon Fr. Thomas celebrated mass in Burgida, before setting out for another village in the district where he was to have celebrated Sunday mass. The last people to have seen him alive were religious sisters from Lingapetta convent, where the priest had stopped for supper before continuing his journey. “Fr. Thomas is a martyr – said Msgr. Marampudi, archbishop of Hyderabad, on hearing of the brutal murder. The Indian Church is shocked and deeply saddened by this barbarous killing, the result of a growing climate of intolerance and violence against Christians in this country”. The prelate...

Lucia Otgongerel (Photo credit: UCANews) Ulan Bator, Aug 20, 2008 / 09:03 pm (CNA).- Lucia Otgongerel was born in Mongolia 30 years ago without hands or legs.  She lived in a deep depression until 2002 when she converted to Catholicism and, as she explains, discovered “true joy.”  Today she works in the capital city of Mongolia, Ulan Bator, as a teacher for seven children with special needs.Now Lucia claims, “I could not live without my faith.”  She overcomes the challenges of her physical condition though an intense life of prayer: including the daily Rosary, meditations and study of the...

KOCHI: An Indianised version of the Bible with references to the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita and drawings of a turbaned Joseph and a sari-clad Mother Mary with baby Jesus in her arms is making waves in Kerala. This is an unprecedented venture as the Indian scriptures have been used to interpret biblical passages for the first time, Catholic Church spokesman Paul Thelekat says. There are 24 line drawings, including those of mosques, temples and churches with slippers outside, by the late Christopher Coelho. Mumbai-based publishing house St Pauls has come out with the new Indian Bible, which also has...

In 1988, 16-year-old Piyush Jindal totaled his father's new car a few weeks before graduating from Baton Rouge High School. Piyush -- who then and now prefers the nickname "Bobby" he adopted from "The Brady Brunch" sitcom -- had to assess more than fender damage with his parents. "Which God do you have to thank for your safety?" Mr. Jindal, now governor of Louisiana, remembers his mother, Raj, a practicing Hindu, inquiring after he escaped from the wreck. For the child of Punjabi immigrants who had announced his Christian beliefs the previous summer, the question was difficult. Twenty years later,...

NEW DELHI: With Democrat senator Barack Obama busy in the run-up to the US presidential polls, a group of well-wishers in the capital have decided to send him a symbol of his lucky charm, Lord Hanuman, to help him emerge victorious. Obama's representative Carolyn Sauvage-Mar on Tuesday received a gold-plated two-feet-high idol which she will pass it on to the Obama after it is sanctified. The idol is being presented to Obama as he is reported to be a Lord Hanuman devotee and carries with him a locket of the monkey god along with other good luck charms. An hour-long...

I was about to ask someone on another thread which translation she uses and I thought maybe it might be better as an individual thread. I don't think this will become contentious, but who knows? So, the question: Which translation do you use for your personal Bible? If the answer is different: Which do you prefer? Why not use it as your personal Bible?

Two young, LDS missionaries, wearing their white shirts and ties, left their apartment and went out into the busy streets of Bangkok, Thailand, in July 1972. As they tracted, they found an unusual picture on the front page of the newspapers: another missionary they knew sitting on top of a large statue of Buddha. That evening, the elders received a phone call. They were to stay inside their apartments and not proselyte. A photo that seemed fun at the time turned out to have some drastic consequences. For six weeks Elder Mark Tippets and his companion read, all they could...

The kirpan, or ceremonial dagger, is worn by many devout Sikhs Sikh representatives will not attend an inter-faith meeting with Pope Benedict XVI when he visits the US next month.They say this is because the Pope's guards in the US will not allow them to wear their "kirpan" ceremonial daggers. Jewish, Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist representatives are meeting the Pope in Washington. The kirpan must be worn by all baptised Sikhs (Khalsa), after an order issued by the faith's leader Guru Gobind Singh, in 1699. Sikhs are being replaced by representatives from the Jain religion at the ceremony. The...

A prominent Hindu leader met a senior leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) in Salt Lake City (Utah) yesterday and discussed similarities in both the religions. Rajan Zed, prominent leader of Hindus and Indo-Americans, and Neil L. Anderson, member of the Presidency of the Seventy of LDS Church, met in LDS headquarters in Salt Lake City, and talked about various issues concerning their religions. Similarities examined were "law of the harvest" of LDS and karma doctrine of Hinduism; life does not begin with birth nor end with death; Brahman is unlimited and pervasive, so is...

The Utah State Senate will begin differently today. As in other states, the Utah's Senate meeting begins with a prayer or religious rite. However, today will mark the first time a Hindu prayer has opened the Utah Senate meeting. Rajan Zed, a Hindu chaplain, will read a prayer from the "Rig-Veda," an ancient book of Hindu scripture that dates back more than 3,000 years. Zed will first read the prayer in Sanscrit, a language considered sacred by Hindus, and then an English translation. After the prayer, Zed will meet with Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and with Elder Quentin L. Cook...

How far can Catholics go in “interreligious learning”? Jesuit Father Francis X. Clooney hinted at the answer to this question in a Jan. 15 posting on the internet site of America magazine, a Jesuit national weekly. Fr. Clooney related his trip, during the second week of January, to the Culver City-based Jesuit novitiate, where he gave a three-day seminar “on interreligious dialogue and related issues to the first year novices of the California and Oregon Provinces.”  The seminar featured, in part, the viewing of documentaries. One of the films presented was Swamiji, about the life of a French Benedictine,...

New Delhi - India's eastern state of Orissa has lodged a protest with the US government seeking action against a California-based website for hurting religious sentiments of people by selling undergarments with images of Hindu gods, a newspaper reported Friday. Hindu priests and religious groups had slammed the website, cafepress.com, for selling undergarments embellished with faces of several gods and goddesses, including the presiding deities of Jagannath temple, considered among the most sacred Hindu temples in India. Besides writing to the US embassy in New Delhi, the state authorities also wrote to the federal Home Minister Shivraj Patil urging him...

GREENVILLE, S.C. --Pastor Frank Page says he has learned to be wary of the media during his tenure as head of the Southern Baptist Convention. But, he said, he is glad he opened the doors of his church to documentary filmmakers looking to show the personal faith of some of the world's spiritual leaders. "Because of who I am, I talked about Jesus Christ every other word, every other phrase, because I knew if they cut out Christ, they're going to have to cut out everything I say," Page said. "If they really want to know, as evangelical believers, who...

PATNA , India (UPI) -- A judge in India has put out a call for two Hindu gods to "appear before the court personally" to help find an answer to a property dispute. Judge Sunil Kumar Singh has taken out advertisements in newspapers ordering the gods Ram and Hanuman to testify before the court, the BBC reported Friday. The 20-year-old dispute revolves around 1.4 acres of land that host two temples, one dedicated to each of the two gods referred to by Singh. Temple priest Manmohan Pathak claims to own the land that houses the holy buildings, but locals claim...

Vedic Recitations in a Christian Church on Thanksgiving http://newsblaze.com/story/20071101085222tsop.nb/newsblaze/TOPSTORY/Top-Stories.html http://tinyurl.com/2kmxfe Nov 1, 2007 Judyth Piazza, News Blaze Recitations from ancient Sanskrit scriptures will reverberate in a Christian church in Nevada on the occasion of coming Thanksgiving eve service. Rajan Zed, the prominent Hindu chaplain, will read from Rig-Veda (oldest existing scripture of the world dated from around 1,500 BCE), Upanishads (Hindu scriptures containing mystical teachings), and Bhagavad-Gita (famous philosophical and spiritual poem) in Trinity Episcopal Church in Reno (Nevada) during Twenty-second Annual Thanksgiving Service of Northwestern Nevada to be held on November 21 evening. Despite conflicts around the world, various...

Not too long ago, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel featured a story on the completed renovation of All Saints church in Milwaukee. Stories of church renovation are nothing new to Milwaukee Catholics. The city offered a high-profile case several years back with the controversial renovation of Saint John’s Cathedral downtown. The renovation at All Saints opens the door once again to a much-needed dialogue regarding the interplay of architecture, design and theology in Catholic churches. I am one of many Catholics who believe that “renovation” is more often than not a euphemism for the evisceration of tradition. Unfortunately, over the past...

A traditional Chinese dinner of rice, meat, seafood, vegetables and a small pig was laid out on the ground at Laurel Grove Cemetery. Nearby, gray smoke curled out of a trash can, in which members of the New York-based Fukien American Association burned fake money, part of a Chinese burial ritual meant to provide for the dead in the afterlife. The event -- which started on the sidewalks of New York's Chinatown amid pounding drums and a colorful, traditional dragon dance -- consecrated the cemetery's new Chinese American Memorial Gardens section, which will be the future final resting place for...

As of September 1, China is tightening control over Tibetan Buddhism with a new law requiring government permission for the reincarnation of lamas. Tibetan activists say this is another attempt by communist Chinese leaders to undermine Tibetan culture and even absurdly to control the religious afterlife. VOA's Heda Bayron has more on the story from our Asia News Center in Hong Kong. The new law bans Tibetan lamas, or monks, from reincarnating without Chinese government approval. China, which has ruled Tibet for more than half a century, says anyone outside China cannot influence the reincarnation process and only monasteries in...

A Catholic school run by the Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Graces in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand (or Uttaranchal), was devastated by a gang of radical Hindu militants, members of the extremist organisation Sangh Parivar. The civil authorities and human rights groups, the local Catholic Church and other Christians have said they are deeply shocked at this totally unprovoked attack which sowed panic among the pupils and teachers and left the school building completely devastated. The school was in the village of Vikas Nagar near the town of Dehra Dun. The local Church is outraged and has...

Every Sunday, Jun Kwon drives his mother to a Polish-Catholic neighborhood in Garfield, to a modest, red brick house. A Korean flag flutters outside of this house turned church turned Buddhist meditation center. Taking his mom to Sunday morning services at the Santisukha Meditation Center boosts Kwon's good karma. "She's pretty old," he explains. She's 43. Korean-American Buddhists, who in the United States represent just 5 percent of their ethnic community, have a double minority status, according to Sharon A. Suh, professor of theology and religious studies at Seattle University, and author of "Being Buddhist in a Christian World: Gender...

When 16th century European priests arrived in southern India to introduce Christianity, they were told that a more famed Christian missionary had been there first. In the districts of Travancore and Cochin, there was already a community of Indian Christians with a tradition of loose communion with the Roman Catholic Church. The man who first converted them, the Indians said, was none other than St. Thomas the Apostle (the "Doubting Thomas"), who reputedly arrived in India aboard a Roman trading vessel in 52 A.D. Whether St. Thomas actually preached under the palm trees of Travancore and Cochin is a point...

The Last Mass of Father Ragheed, a Martyr of the Chaldean Church They killed him in Mosul, together with three of his subdeacons. In a tormented Iraq, he was a man and a Christian of limpid and courageous faith. Here is a portrait of him, written by someone who knew him well by Sandro MagisterROMA, June 5, 2007 – They killed him on the Sunday after Pentecost, after he had celebrated Mass in his parish church, dedicated to the Holy Spirit, in Mosul. They killed Father Ragheed Ganni, a Chaldean Catholic priest, together with three subdeacons who were with him...

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — A priest professor at a New Jersey Catholic university is also a “Zen master.” Father Kevin Hunt, a monk in Spencer, Mass., is a Buddhist “sensei.” A chapel on a Catholic campus in California holds a weekly “Mindfulness and Zen Meditation” session. Anthony Clark, an assistant professor of Chinese history at the University of Alabama and a noted Catholic expert on Buddhism, cites more examples: a Benedictine convent that sells the Dalai Lama’s books and practices Chan Buddhist meditation; a Dominican priory with a Zen-style prayer room. In March, Bishop Frank Dewane said enough is enough....

Pentecost Sunday May 27, 2007 Dear Friends and Benefactors, Christ Jesus be praised! This letter is urgent. We find ourselves fighting for our survival. In a moment, I will outline the steps that have brought us to this point, but straight away, I want to give you an overview of what is happening now and why we need your help. Due to a coordinated attack against our apostolate locally, and the effects of a national smear campaign, our already shaky finances have turned into a bleak fiscal situation. As I write, we are $50,000 in debt. Moreover, we are facing...

Bishop's yoga ban is a stretch, parishioners say, Complaints end classes at south Fort Myers parish

On the occasion of Vesak, Cardianl Poupard in a letter addressed to Buddhists in all Asian countries mentioned below tells them that “We, Catholics and Buddhists, enjoy a good relationship and our contacts, collaboration and implementation of diverse programmes have helped to deepen our understanding of each other. Dialogue is the surepath to fruitful inter religious relations. It deepens respect and nurtures the desire to live in harmony with others. The Second Vatican Council teaches that the entire human race shares a common origin and a common destiny: God, our Creator and the goal of our earthly pilgrimage”. There is...

Fr. Maximilian N. Ranatunga tells AsiaNews the story of his conversion from Buddhism: from his initial condemnation of Christianity, through the newfound “wonder” of praying to the Virgin, to his search for God and the priestly vocation to “place himself at the service of the sick”. Rome (AsiaNews) – He was to have become a Buddhist monk, but today he is Sri Lanka’s first Camillian priest.  Father Maximilian N. Ranatunga, 45 years old, synthesizes his life: “ I was no stranger to sufferance, but then at a certain point, without my knowing why or how I found the joy and...

SOC SON, Vietnam (AFP) - A prominent Vietnamese Zen master living in exile on Friday took his message of post-war reconciliation to thousands of Buddhist faithful at a hillside pagoda near Hanoi. Thich Nhat Hanh, an 81-year-old monk, led prayers for the millions of war dead from both sides of the conflict, during his second return visit since he was exiled four decades ago by the then US-backed Saigon regime. "Our country and nation suffered so much in the years of fighting for independence and freedom, and you were the ones who suffered the most," Hanh said in a prayer...

The Lighthouse Trails and Research Project, a religious watchdog organization founded in 2000 by David and Deborah Dombrowski, call eastern spiritual practices “New Age Spirituality” and list it as “a sweeping phenomenon.” The Lighthouse Trials and Research Project goes on to further say, “Christian leaders are embracing practices and a new spirituality that borrows from Eastern mysticism and New Age philosophy… and involve many of the most popular evangelical leaders including Rick Warren, Brian McLaren, Richard Foster, Tony Campolo, and Eugene Peterson.” In Warren's Purpose-Driven Life, he does encourages people to practice "breath prayers" by repeating words and phrases over...