Pakistan: bishop denounces rape of 9-year-old Catholic girl 
December 20, 2010
Bishop Joseph Coutts of Faisalabad has condemned the rape of a 9-year-old Catholic girl by a Muslim man.
"The incident is terrifying," he said. "I met the victims and I expressed my regret to them. I believe we must consider a pastoral and legal strategy, in an effort to stem the phenomenon of the abuse of Christian girl."
"Such incidents occur frequently," a local source told the Fides news agency. "Christian girls are considered goods to be damaged at leisure. Abusing them is a right. According to the community's mentality it is not even a crime. Muslims regard them as spoils of war."
While the man who raped the girl has been arrested, "the family is terrified because the village is mainly Muslim," Fides reports.
Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
______________________________________________Religious practice on the rise in England December 20, 2010
Weekly Mass attendance, as well as attendance at Baptist and Pentecostal services, has increased in the United Kingdom in recent years, according to a new study published by Christian Research. While membership in the Church of England rose between 2007 and 2008, church attendance declined slightly.
Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
_________________________________________________________Uganda: prelate decries ritual child sacrifice December 20, 2010
Speaking at the installation of a bishop on December 18, a Ugandan prelate denounced the practice of ritual child sacrifice, which the nation's leading newspaper described as "rampant."
"Why should you kill and sacrifice children in order to get rich?" asked Archbishop John Baptist Odama of Gulu. "That is the craziness in human minds."
"Family values should be upheld," he added. "Why should one go for witchcraft and at the same time pretend to be a Christian?"
Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Archbishop Odama decries child sacrifice (Kampala New Vision)
- Uganda's epidemic of child sacrifice (The Independent)
Pope recalls dogma of Assumption, urges scholars to follow 'way of beauty' December 20, 2010
In a message to Rome's pontifical academies, Pope Benedict recalled the 60th anniversary of the promulgation of the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
"In the difficult and delicate historical moment that followed the conclusion of World War II, with that solemn gesture, Pius XII wished to indicate not only to Catholics, but to all men and women of good will, the singular figure of Mary as model and paradigm of the new humanity redeemed by Christ," Pope Benedict said.
After discussing the teaching of St. John Damascene, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and the Second Vatican Council on the Assumption, the Pontiff invited "experts in theology and Mariology to follow the via pulchritudinis [way of beauty], and I hope that, also in our days, thanks to a greater collaboration between theologians, liturgists and artists, incisive and effective messages can be offered to the admiration and contemplation of all."
"Theological and spiritual reflection, liturgy, Marian devotion, and artistic representation truly form a whole, a complete and effective message, capable of arousing the wonder of eyes, of touching the heart and of enticing the intelligence to a more profound understanding of the mystery of Mary in which we see our destiny reflected clearly and our hope proclaimed," he added.
Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Holy Father Bestows A Prize On Marian Academy Of India (VIS)
- Benedict XVI's Address to Pontifical Academies (Zenit)