KOLKATA, India (UCAN) -- The Missionaries of Charity (MC), the congregation Blessed Teresa of Kolkata started 62 years ago, has re-elected Sister Nirmala Joshi as superior general on March 13. However, her third term in office would require papal approval, as a Religious superior general can be elected for only two consecutive terms.
Sister Nirmala, 74, was seen on Friday afternoon at the Green Park on the outskirts of Kolkata where the congregation is based, surrounded by nuns who congratulated her on her election. The result was made known at about 1 p.m.
A hundred and sixty-three electors from around the world cast their votes in a secluded MC house during the last phase of the congregation's 10th general chapter that began Feb. 1.
Salesian Archbishop Lucas Sirkar of Calcutta presided over the election for the superior general and four councilors. Prior to this, the prelate celebrated Mass for the electors, reminding them of their responsibility to develop a spirituality that is attuned to Church teachings and their original vision.
According to the MC constitution, the congregation holds its general chapter every six years to address major congregational issues, among other matters.
The congregation's constitution requires the candidate for superior general to receive an absolute majority of votes after three rounds of secret ballots.
Sources close to the congregation said it had expected a split vote as some nuns wanted changes while others said there was no one else as capable of loving the poor and leading the nuns "with a heart" as Sister Nirmala.
Sister Nirmala has expressed a desire to return to the contemplative life she led before she became superior general in 1997, six months before Blessed Teresa's death.
The nun, known as the "saint of the gutters," founded the order in 1950 and had been elected unopposed as its head in all seven elections starting in 1961. In 1997, Mother Teresa attended the eighth chapter that elected Sister Nirmala, a Hindu convert, as her successor.
During her two tenures, Nirmala had spent Thursdays in a contemplative house near the MC headquarters whenever she was in Kolkata.
Earlier, retired Archbishop Henry D'Souza of Calcutta told the electors to follow Blessed Mother Teresa's example of seeking God's will through prayer and silence.
Archbishop D'Souza, in an interview, later explained that God has a role for whoever the chapter chooses as superior general, and that God completes his plan through that person during that specific time in history.
Archbishop Sirkar lauded Sister Nirmala for leading the congregation in upholding its original vision. The Indian government, he noted, recognized her work by conferring the country's second highest civilian award on her this year.
Sister Nirmala was born the eldest of 10 children in a Hindu Nepali Brahmin family in Ranchi, eastern India. After joining the MC congregation when she was 23, she trained as a lawyer and worked in several places. She was heading the congregation's contemplative wing in New York when she was elected superior general.
======================================
PAKISTAN Village Christians fast after deadly church attack
SANGOWALI, Pakistan (UCAN) -- Christians in a village fasted for three days after an attack on their community that resulted in one person dead and 10 injured.
Pastor Patras Masih of the United Presbyterian church in Sangowali village, northeastern Pakistan, on March 6, called for three days of fasting from March 11-13. The attack on his church and Christian families occurred on March 2.
In his address to Christians after prayers on March 6, he asked them to offer up the situation to God, as part of their fast.
On March 2, a group of 20 Muslims threw bricks at the church and then attacked Christian families in the vicinity. One of them, Shakeela Manzoor, 40, later died of head injuries.
Local Christians registered the case with the police. A local Muslim has been arrested since. Of Sangowali's 200 households, around 40 are Christian, mostly shoemakers.
The next day, the All Pakistan Minority Alliance (APMA), a grouping of minority political parties, organized a demonstration with collaboration from three local pastors in the village. More than 1,000 people blocked the main road for an hour and shouted, "Stop attacking churches, stop bullying Christians!"
Pastor Masih said on the sidelines of the rally: "It is sad that the death occurred during Lent. Manzoor, mother of three children, was lost because the assailants did not allow Christians to take the injured to the hospital in time." He added, "We asked people to dedicate their fast for a fair solution to our calamity."
The Protestant pastor said the attack destroyed window panes and a glass cross on the church tower.
Arif Khokar, APMA youth coordinator and brother of Manzoor, said the attack aimed at harassing the Christian minority after a Christian teenager reported to the police in late February of an attempt to sodomize him.
This is reportedly the fourth church attacked in the country this year. According to Shahbaz Bhatti, APMA chairman and the Federal Minister for Minorities, it is another attempt to create religious disharmony and anarchy. "I strongly condemn the unfortunate events during Lent. I have directed police to take action against those responsible," he said.
Source: UCAN
.::. All my articles can be view here: MELTED HEARTS .::.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=26f3f234-7d9c-449e-8bca-16919051081c)
Sister Nirmala, 74, was seen on Friday afternoon at the Green Park on the outskirts of Kolkata where the congregation is based, surrounded by nuns who congratulated her on her election. The result was made known at about 1 p.m.
A hundred and sixty-three electors from around the world cast their votes in a secluded MC house during the last phase of the congregation's 10th general chapter that began Feb. 1.
Salesian Archbishop Lucas Sirkar of Calcutta presided over the election for the superior general and four councilors. Prior to this, the prelate celebrated Mass for the electors, reminding them of their responsibility to develop a spirituality that is attuned to Church teachings and their original vision.
According to the MC constitution, the congregation holds its general chapter every six years to address major congregational issues, among other matters.
The congregation's constitution requires the candidate for superior general to receive an absolute majority of votes after three rounds of secret ballots.
Sources close to the congregation said it had expected a split vote as some nuns wanted changes while others said there was no one else as capable of loving the poor and leading the nuns "with a heart" as Sister Nirmala.
Sister Nirmala has expressed a desire to return to the contemplative life she led before she became superior general in 1997, six months before Blessed Teresa's death.
The nun, known as the "saint of the gutters," founded the order in 1950 and had been elected unopposed as its head in all seven elections starting in 1961. In 1997, Mother Teresa attended the eighth chapter that elected Sister Nirmala, a Hindu convert, as her successor.
During her two tenures, Nirmala had spent Thursdays in a contemplative house near the MC headquarters whenever she was in Kolkata.
Earlier, retired Archbishop Henry D'Souza of Calcutta told the electors to follow Blessed Mother Teresa's example of seeking God's will through prayer and silence.
Archbishop D'Souza, in an interview, later explained that God has a role for whoever the chapter chooses as superior general, and that God completes his plan through that person during that specific time in history.
Archbishop Sirkar lauded Sister Nirmala for leading the congregation in upholding its original vision. The Indian government, he noted, recognized her work by conferring the country's second highest civilian award on her this year.
Sister Nirmala was born the eldest of 10 children in a Hindu Nepali Brahmin family in Ranchi, eastern India. After joining the MC congregation when she was 23, she trained as a lawyer and worked in several places. She was heading the congregation's contemplative wing in New York when she was elected superior general.
======================================
PAKISTAN Village Christians fast after deadly church attack
SANGOWALI, Pakistan (UCAN) -- Christians in a village fasted for three days after an attack on their community that resulted in one person dead and 10 injured.
Pastor Patras Masih of the United Presbyterian church in Sangowali village, northeastern Pakistan, on March 6, called for three days of fasting from March 11-13. The attack on his church and Christian families occurred on March 2.
In his address to Christians after prayers on March 6, he asked them to offer up the situation to God, as part of their fast.
On March 2, a group of 20 Muslims threw bricks at the church and then attacked Christian families in the vicinity. One of them, Shakeela Manzoor, 40, later died of head injuries.
Local Christians registered the case with the police. A local Muslim has been arrested since. Of Sangowali's 200 households, around 40 are Christian, mostly shoemakers.
The next day, the All Pakistan Minority Alliance (APMA), a grouping of minority political parties, organized a demonstration with collaboration from three local pastors in the village. More than 1,000 people blocked the main road for an hour and shouted, "Stop attacking churches, stop bullying Christians!"
Pastor Masih said on the sidelines of the rally: "It is sad that the death occurred during Lent. Manzoor, mother of three children, was lost because the assailants did not allow Christians to take the injured to the hospital in time." He added, "We asked people to dedicate their fast for a fair solution to our calamity."
The Protestant pastor said the attack destroyed window panes and a glass cross on the church tower.
Arif Khokar, APMA youth coordinator and brother of Manzoor, said the attack aimed at harassing the Christian minority after a Christian teenager reported to the police in late February of an attempt to sodomize him.
This is reportedly the fourth church attacked in the country this year. According to Shahbaz Bhatti, APMA chairman and the Federal Minister for Minorities, it is another attempt to create religious disharmony and anarchy. "I strongly condemn the unfortunate events during Lent. I have directed police to take action against those responsible," he said.
Source: UCAN
.::. All my articles can be view here: MELTED HEARTS .::.
No comments:
Post a Comment