Vol. XIII No. 12 September,16-30, 2011 l Published from Delhi Post Box No : 10708, Delhi-110085
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Operation Nehemiah gives a clarion call for unity and integrity Unprecedented gathering of over 75 Christian Leaders - the Who's Who of Indian Church. Bangalore, 3 Sept 2011 Arpit Waghmare: On September 2, 2011 a unique gathering took place at the Leela in Bangalore. While the environment in the country was rife with the action relating to the India Against Corruption movement, 51 top church leaders had quietly come together to discuss how the church at large can lead the way against corruption – not by fighting an external entity – but by becoming a model of integrity in the way the church runs itself. The group that gathered was representative of different denominations within the Christian community. There were 17 top church leaders representing some of the major churchdenominations such as – the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, the Church of North
India, the Church of South India, the Methodist Church, the Church of the Nazarene, the Apostolic Church Alliance, the Indian Pentecostal Church, the Assemblies of God, the Evangelical Church of India, and the Kashmir Evangelical Fellowship. Each of these denominations was represented by leaders who were bishops or above, or pastors who had churches with more than 1000 members. Apart from the Church representatives there were also 27 key leaders of important para-church organizations, some of which are – World Vision, Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), Haggai India, Campus Crusade for Christ, ACTS, UESI, IEM, Bible Society of India, Interserve, CANA, IMA, Alpha India and the Lausanne
Movement. Each of these organizations, barring very few exceptions, was represented by their senior most leaders in India. There were also leaders from seminaries and theological institutions like SAIACS, SABC and TAFTEE and lay Christian leaders who are representatives of the community within the government namely Dr H.T Sangliana and Dr John Dayal. 25 of the participants were outstationparticipants, from cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Guwahati, Cuttack, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai and Cochin. The event called “Operation Nehemiah – Salt and Light in a Corrupt Society” was conceived, managed and facilitated by a network of Christian Businessmen and Professionals called “Transition Network”
with the backing and the support of the Lausanne Movement. The speakers were thought leaders like Bishop EfraimTendero who is the National director of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, composed of 20,000 Evangelical churches; Dr. Roberto Laver, a lawyer and banker with vast global experience with faith-based NGO’s and international development, who has served as Lausanne Senior Associate for Bible Engagement; Dr. Manfred Kohl, Special Ambassador for Overseas Council; and LT Jeyachandran, Director Asia Pacific for RZIM. The heart of the event comprised of deliberations among the distinguished participants facilitated by an expert in the “design thinking methodology.” The Page 12
Mangalore: Christians seek amendment to Cannon Law Mangalore, Sep 15: The fresh representation by Indian Christians governed by Cannon Law for relief by amendment of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Indian Succession Act was forwarded to Salman Khurshid, union minister of law and parliamentary affairs, recently, in order to amend Sec 494 IC which makes bigamy an offence. Under Sec 494 of the IPC, marrying again during the lifetime of spouse–having a husband or wife living—in which such marriage is void by reason of its taking place during the life of such husband or wife. This shall be punished with imprisonment of earlier description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to time. The exception, being this section, does not extend to any person whose marriage with such husband or wife has been declared void by court of competent jurisdiction. Canon Law is the person law of the Christians and is applicable to about a billion Christians around the world including India. However in India, Canon Law is not recognized especially with
regard to a decree of the Canon Law court declaring a marriage a nullity. The Indian Christian Marriage Act recognizes Canon Law to the extent of solemnization of marriages in the church. However, it does not recognize disso-lution of marriage which is also part of Canon Law. Muslims also have their personal law. Under the Mo-hammedan Law there is provision for nullity of ma-rriage and this is recognized under Indian Law. The Mohammedan Law is reco-gnized in India especially with regard to nullity of marriage. Expressing the word ‘Talaq’ three times renders a marriage null and this nullity entitles the spouse to remarry and such remarriage does not amount to bigamy. It’s a clear case of discrimination between Mus-lims and Christians on the subject of remarriage after the previous marriage is made a nullity under the personal law applicable to Muslims only. Under this representation, the Indian Christians seek an amendment with exception to
Jacobite, Orthodox groups dispute over church ownership
Sec 494 of the IPC as: this Section does not extend to any person whose marriage with such husband or wife has been declared void by a Court of competent jurisdiction, which will include the Ecclesiastical Court constituted under the Code of Canon Law applicable to Indian Christians. A case for amendment to be made to Sec 496 as IPC for the purpose of adding an exception to bigamy is necessary. Canon Law is the personal law of Indian Christians in the same way as Mohammedan Law is the personal law of the Muslims. In fact Canon Law governs over one billion Indian Christians in the world. This is a case where the Canon Law is in conflict with the Civil Law. The Christian Marriage Act Page 12
Two factions of the Malankara Syrian Church, disputing the ownership of a church in Cochin, Kerala, are yet to come to an amicable resolution despite efforts by the district administration. The members of the Orthodox and Jacobite Syrian Church are protesting over the ownership of St Peter's and St Paul's Church at Kolenchery. Tension erupted after the district court handed control of the church to the Orthodox faction on August 16. On Saturday, both the groups organised separate functions at the church although the police had advised against it. Trouble began when the Orthodox faction decided not to share ownership of the church with the rivals, preventing them from entering the premises. The Orthodox faction demanded that the Jacobite Church abide by the district court order. The dispute over the right to worship further led the head the Orthodox Church, HH Baselios Mar-thoma Paulose II to launch a hunger strike on Sunday. Not budging from its stand, the Jacobite faction under Catholicos Baselios
Orthodox Church leaders fasting at Kolenchery (Malankara Orthodox Church) Thomas I as well began a fast near the shrine. Both the groups rejected the district administration's proposal to keep the church open for prayers. The district collector meanwhile has sought the intervention of the mediation cell of the High Court to resolve the dispute. District Collector P I Sheik Pareeth told the court that the dispute had become a law and order issue and would worsen with more people joining the protests. A curfew was Sunday declared at the tension-gripped Kolenchery. "Our protest is not to gain power or property. We want
only the right to worship in the church," Fr Varghese Kallappara, spokesperson of the Jacobite faction, told media. The Jacobite Synod would meet at Kolenchery on Wednesday to decide on the future course of action. The Orthodox faction meanwhile said they would hold protest rallies at Piravom, Thiruvalla, Ko-ttayam and Pampady on Wednesday. “We will stick to the court ruling until a higher court orders otherwise,” a spokesman of the Orthodox faction told reporters. Both the factions have been at loggerheads for the last 52 years.
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