The woman is initially ignored by Jesus, but she persists in her pleas. The disciples are irritated by her persistence, and beg Jesus to ‘do something to get rid of her’. Jesus dismisses the woman’s right to a miracle (“I was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and to them alone”) and ridicules her petition (“it isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs”). This exchange of conversation doesn’t dishearten the woman; it only increases her faith. She comes back with the riposte: “even the dogs eat the scraps which fall from their master’s table”. The only recorded instance, I believe, of a woman having the last word with Jesus — and getting her way with him!

Jesus’s final word of appreciation to her is: “Woman, what faith you have! Be it as you wish!”

Scattered throughout the pages of the Gospel are these “one liners”, these prayers of faith, the prayers of the ‘plain men and women’ who encountered Jesus. What they beg for comes straight from the heart. They usually ask for a boon, or intercede for a dear one. Their cries are incessant, in spite of the shooing and booing of the passers by. The classic “plain man’s” prayer, repeated in this episode too, is that of the blind Bartimaeus, a great favourite of St. Francis Xavier: “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!”

In our times of depression and sadness, in our times of abject need, let us make these prayers our own.

The whereabouts of Fathers Ban Zhanxiong and Ma Mumin are still unknown, but Chu Jianli, Ding Zhanmin, Wang Hu, and Zhao Runxi, who is the new parish priest of Erenhot, were freed.

Fr Gao Jiangping, the diocesan administrator who heads the “underground” community in the area, was later confirmed not among the detainees.

Church sources believe the detentions were related to a dispute over the transfer of priests in Erenhot, a city near the border with Mongolia.

Fr Wang Zhihua, an Erenhot priest, had rejected a recent order by Fr Gao to transfer to another parish and on January 28, according to the sources, told his parishioners he was breaking from the “underground” community.

He told them the “open” community’s Bishop Paul Meng Qinglu of Hohhot, had assigned him to be the pastor of Erenhot.

Fr Gao and the detained priests went to Erenhot to settle the dispute on learning the news. But about 30 officials took six of the priests away on January 30 before they could meet.

Bishop Meng confirmed giving the appointment letter to Fr Wang Zhihua.

“He wanted to do pastoral work openly because security is tight at the border and underground activities are difficult.”

Some sources believe Fr Wang Zhihua betrayed his colleagues to the authorities.

Bishop Meng however, denied this.

He said Fr Wang Zhihua had told him that he had received a phone call from someone telling him that Fr Gao wanted to meet him. But he fled when he saw policemen in a courtyard at the place where the meeting was to take place.

Related report:

Officials arrest ‘underground’ priests

The program would provide 100,000 rupees (US$1,250) to inter-caste couples.

“This was actually announced last year by the government but had not been implemented properly because money had not been set aside for it in the national budget,” said Rem Biswakarma, chairman of the Nepal Dalit Jagaran Media Center in Kathmandu.

“But now, with the decision from the highest level of the government, we hope it will become a reality.”

Biswakarma said the program aimed to discourage and root out caste discrimination, which some in the government and society have supported in principle but not in practice.

“We are continuing our struggle to get laws [enacted and implemented] fairly in Nepal’s traditional Hindu culture,” he said.

Biswakarma said inter-caste couples face severe challenges from relatives and others in many villages, including violent attacks and even killings.

“Though this [program] is good news for dalits, it is something conservative groups will not like.”

Parishioners said Father Roman Gonsalves, parish priest of St Francis Xavier Church, Velim, was raided on February 6.

Fr Gonsalves said: “The tax officials interrogated me as though I was a [criminal] and rummaged through my belongings. They wanted to know how much money the church had, who paid salaries to the teachers of my school, and checked my bank pass book. After a two-hour search yielded nothing, they left.”

Around 100 prominent figures, including Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee-joong of Gwangju, also called for further family reunions, a resumption of tours to Mt Geumgang, and allow humanitarian aid into North Korea.

“North-South relations are at their worst in years. All of us should work together to rebuild inter-Korean ties this year according to the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration,” they said in a statement following a meeting today at the Press Center in Seoul.

They were referring to the joint declaration adopted after former president Kim Dae-jung of South Korea and the late Kim Jong-il of North Korea held historic talks in June 2000.

At those talks, the two leaders agreed on improving relations and realizing peaceful reunification.

In the years that followed exchanges reuniting families separated after the two Koreas split were held and a joint economic zone set up in the North.

These were halted and humanitarian aid restricted after two attacks on South Korea by the North in 2010.

Relations have been soured further by a series of threats since then by the two-sides.

Reverend Lee Hae-hak, president of the Justice and Peace Committee of the National Council of Churches in Korea said: “All of us should repent for neglecting our mission for peaceful reunification.”

Related reports

‘Religious leaders visit North Korea’

“The Church will strive to be a voice of the voiceless,” the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) said in a statement at the end of the week-long event held at St John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, in Bangalore.

Some 161 bishops and 20 CBCI officials attended the gathering with its theme: “the Church’s role for a better India.”

The bishops said they sensed “in our hearts” the country’s unfulfilled yearning for a better India where globalization had failed millions of “our countrymen” despite bringing “tremendous” economic and technological progress.

They have seen “a betrayal of the poor and marginalized” and have not been able to make the Church “sufficiently sensitive” to human rights violations and atrocities against women, tribal people, dalits and other groups who live in “dehumanizing and oppressive poverty.”

They will encourage their people to resist “unbridled consumerism” by adopting a simpler lifestyle.

The prelates also resolved to “eradicate any vestiges of discrimination and corruption in the Church” to make it more transparent and accountable.

They resolved to make the Church’s network of educational institutions agents of social transformation and create citizens who will serve the country with honesty and integrity.

“To strive for a better India, she herself must become a better India,” the statement read.

The bishops said the plenary has convinced them of the need to protest “not only when our interests are infringed upon, but also when the rights of others are trampled upon.”

They resolved to make the Church’s network of educational institutions agents of social transformation and create a “critical citizenry” that would demand political transparency and good governance.

The Catholic leaders said the Church remains undaunted by recent attacks on its workers and institutions and would continue its work among the poor by enlisting the help of more doctors, lawyers and experts.

It would also engage with like-minded groups and individuals to help the poor benefit from various government welfare schemes.

The bishops said they would also take the lead to resist deforestation, displacement of people and polluting natural resources.

Related reports:

Catholic bishops convene biennial meet

Hopes of finding further survivors from the disaster which has so far claimed 21 lives received a boost earlier today when a 30-year-old worker who had been trapped for 47 hours was pulled from the rubble.

“He said there were children’s voices from inside. However they later stopped”, said Farooq Ahmad, an emergency services spokesman.

“We are trying to locate them using scanning equipment and made three tunnels in the rubble. Cranes are now picking rubble from other areas where we only expect to find bodies,” he added.

The three-storey building belonging to the Orient Lab pharmaceutical company collapsed on Monday morning, along with three nearby houses after a gas cylinder exploded in the basement of the factory.

The manager has been arrested and police are looking for the factory owners who are suspected of violating several labor and safety laws.

Media reports say more than 300 illegal small factories are operating in residential areas across the city. Human rights organizations say most of them use child labor and ignore safety measures.

The Advertising Standards Authority, the independent regulator of advertising in all British media, ruled that the ads generated by the group Healing on the Streets are irresponsible and misleading.

The ASA, whose tight rules are considered among the world’s most stringent, cites a leaflet produced by the group from its center in the spa town of Bath, England, claiming that God “can heal you from any sickness.”

Among illnesses that can be cured with divine help, it said, are “ulcers, depression, allergies, fibromyalgia, asthma, paralysis, phobias, sleeping disorders or any other sickness.”

The ASA told the BBC that someone had complained about the group’s leaflets and website, and the panel had “concluded that (the ads) could encourage false hope and were irresponsible.”

In a statement, the healing group said “it seems very odd to us that the ASA wants to prevent us from stating on our website the basic Christian belief that God can heal illness.”

Full Story: Healing On The Streets Ads Banned

Source: Huffington Post Religion

The calls come after police general Adul Sangsingkeo, acting secretary-general of the narcotics control board, was quoted by local media earlier this week as saying that jailed drug offenders were continuing their activities behind prison walls using mobile phones.

This prompted deputy prime minister Chalerm Yubamrung to say he would back moves to shorten the appeals process for drug offenders sentenced to death and expedite their executions.

In the last week, many phones were found in a high-security jail when prisoners were removed and the entire premises searched.

A survey held by a TV station soon after the revelations suggested that public opinion remained overwhelmingly in favor of the death penalty.

The death penalty still exists in Thailand for murder and drug trafficking, but executions are rarely carried out. The last executions were of two drug traffickers in July 2009. In 2010 the country abstained in a vote on a UN resolution calling for a moratorium on capital punishment.

Rights groups and activists have condemned the calls.

At an anti-death penalty film show held yesterday at Srinakharinwirot university in Bangkok, Parinya Boonridrerthaikul, director of Amnesty International Thailand, reminded the government that its National Human Rights Action Plan (2009-2013) included abolishing capital punishment.

“I don’t agree with the death penalty. A long sentence is enough for drug offenders. What if someone is wrongly convicted?” said Attaphon Khankaew, a student at the university.

Commenting on the revelation that prisoners were still connected to the drug trade behind bars, he said: “We need to question the Correction Department since there is something amiss with the detention system.”

Sarawut Prathumraj, a rights lawyer for the Union for Civil Liberty, said “the government needs to support prisoners and turn them into useful citizens by providing vocational skills,” and not kill them.

With regard to offences taking place in jails he said: “authorities should seriously investigate if prison officers are involved too.”