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First Catholic Church Opens
in Leh
LEH:
A Catholic church has been opened for the first time
in Leh, main city of Buddhist-dominated Ladakh region
of Jammu and Kashmir. Local residents, bishops and
priests from southern and other parts of the country
were among those who attended the first service of
the church held recently.
The hexagonal church hall is characteristically painted
with pictures of Christ and stories from the holy
Bible, with the statue of Saint Thomas at the entrance.
The arrival of Christianity in India is associated
with Saint Thomas, a missionary who is said to have
arrived in Malabar in 52 AD.
After establishing several churches along the Malabar
coast, Saint Thomas travelled to the east coast to
a place near Madras subsequently called Beth Thuma
or the House of Thomas, where he began to preach.
Today, there are as many as 400,000 Roman Catholics
in India.
Major
Archbishop of Syro-Malabar Church, Mar Varkey Cardinal
Vithayathili, "There are missionaries of St Thomas's
Christian church all over India. Even here, in this
diocese of Jammu-Srinagar, we find the Bishop himself
is a member of this church of St Thomas and so many
priests and sisters, missionaries of St Thomas are
working in this Ladakh area," he added.
Until recently, only a Moravian church existed in
Leh for about 200 Protestant Christians. The Moravian
church was first consecrated in Leh by German missionaries
in 1834 who brought some local Buddhist residents
into their fold.
The 23-million strong Christian community is the second
largest minority in India after Muslims who constitute
102 million. The Hindus are in majority with 687.6
million.
(September 17, 2002)
No Religious
Bias in School Syllabus: Supreme Court (Go
To Top)
NEW
DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday, September
12, observed that there was no deliberate attempt
on the part of the federal school syllabus framing
authority to inject religious bias into education.
A
three-judge bench of the Supreme Court upheld the
decision of the National Curriculum Framework for
Secondary Education (NCFSE) to delete certain portions
from history textbooks for Secondary classes.
The BJP-led Government was accused of religious bias
when it decided to drop references to beef being served
on special occasions in ancient India. Hindus do not
eat beef as cows are considered sacred. The apex court
dismissed a public interest litigation filed by educationists
seeking a ban on the implementation of the syllabus
across the country.
The Supreme Court also held that non-consultation
with an advisory body in the framing of the syllabus
could not be held as a ground to declare the national
syllabus as unconstitutional. Minister for Human Resource
Developement Murli Manohar Joshi said the court judgement
cleared the government of allegations of religious
bias.
(September 12, 2002)
Rajasthan
Court Allows Prayers at Rani Sati Temple (Go
To Top)
JAIPUR:
The Rajasthan High Court has given permission
for prayers to be held at the Rani Sati temple in
Jhunjhunu. The temple trust had moved the court after
the State Government tried to ban prayers there, saying
it amounted to glorifying sati. The trustees argued
that the puja was for the Mother Goddess and not for
sati worship. The court, however, in its order, has
banned the annual sati mela.
(September 4, 2002)
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