KUALA LUMPUR (UCAN) -- Theology students from Asia have met in Malaysia to discuss Christian unity and ways to improve their regard for other faiths.

Through the meeting, the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) and the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) consciously tried to make their unity more visible.

The meeting, "Second Asia Conference of Theological Students," was held July 25-31 at Kuala Lumpur's Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre. The first such conference took place in August 2000, also in Kuala Lumpur.

Taking part in the recent discussions were about 75 Christians from various churches and denominations. Most were students from Catholic and Protestant seminaries and other theological institutions in 18 countries.

Focusing on the "wider ecumenism," they addressed the need to increase unity and harmony among all God's people. This includes efforts to explore their need to encounter other religions, the marginalized and the poor, while fulfilling their Christian mission in Asia.

Father Robert Schreiter, a professor at Chicago's Catholic Theological Union, provided a global overview that suggests Asian Christians need to take note of "post-colonial theologies." He said such theologies being developed in "formerly colonized countries" are now in a second phase of development that involves "a reconstruction of culture against how the colonizers defined it."

According to Father Schreiter, the challenge for theology today is "to explore the meaning of the human in a globalized world, understand suffering and liberation from suffering, and understand the role of religion in the lives of peoples and nations."

The CCA's Hope Antone and Yong Ting Jin of the Asian Women's Resource Centre helped participants explore Asian feminist theologies, which the women said are grounded in a long tradition of struggle but also inspired by the central message of the Bible -- women and men are created in the very image of God.

Unfortunately, they pointed out, feminist theology is not offered in many seminaries of Asia or else only occasionally offered as an elective course. They said this reflects an "allergy" to feminism because feminism is seen as a concern only for a few power-hungry women, or as a foreign influence in Asia.

Father Thomas Michel, FABC ecumenical secretary, presented a comprehensive overview of Islam, and the misunderstandings and biases of Christians about that faith. He explained the nature of Islam and iman, or faith, and spoke of the often misunderstood term jihad. For Muslims, Father Michel said, "the greatest struggle is the interior jihad, the continual ongoing effort to make every area of personal life conform to God's will."

Professor Anne-Marie Reijnen of Belgium spoke about the division between Jews and Gentiles reflected in chapters 14-15 of Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans. "No rift could be greater within the Church than that," she said, "yet Paul finds it possible to bridge the gap on the basis of Christ welcoming us (Rom 15:7). Therefore, it is possible for fellow Christians belonging to different churches and denominations to achieve mutual acceptance."

As the meeting of theology students was going on, the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches' (WCC) opened its own meeting, also in Kuala Lumpur. The WCC meeting, which is discussing various worldwide Christian unity issues, began on July 28 and was to close on Aug. 6.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in an opening speech at the WCC event that the world's largest grouping of Christian churches in Muslim-majority Malaysia was "a powerful statement against the rhetoric of hate and distrust" prevalent in the world today.

Reverend Dr. Samuel Kobia, the WCC general secretary, reminded participants in his opening talk on "The Search for Unity" that in "our common baptism, we belong to Christ" and for that reason, "we all belong to one another."

The WCC's 342 member churches come mainly from Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox traditions. The Catholic Church is not a WCC member but has official representatives in the Commission on Faith and Order. The Catholic Church in some countries also belongs to national church groupings linked to the WCC.

END

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HYDERABAD, India (UCAN) -- Church people in Andhra Pradesh have welcomed the southern Indian state's move to negotiate for peace with an armed Maoist group.

During the past 30 years, People's War Group (PWG) has waged violence in 12 of the state's 23 districts in a campaign for socio-political change.

On July 22, the state's new Congress government, headed by a Protestant Christian, decided not to renew an eight-year-old ban on the group, whose ideology borrows from the late Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong.

This followed a government announcement on June 16 of a three-month cease-fire and an agreement to call off the pursuit of PWG activists. The group reciprocated by promising not to carry out armed attacks during the period.

Archbishop Marampudi Joji of Hyderabad, head of the Catholic Church in Andhra Pradesh, told UCA News Aug. 2 that the government move to accept the rebels into the mainstream "can only lead to a positive outcome." Hyderabad, the state capital, is 1,500 kilometers south of New Delhi.

The PWG and other leftist organizations in India advocating armed revolt by the poor against landlords and the government are called Naxalites. The name stems from Naxalbari in West Bengal, scene of a 1967 uprising. The groups have significant presence and influence in the central and eastern states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal.

One of the areas affected by Naxalite violence in Andhra Pradesh is Adilabad, 290 kilometers north of Hyderabad. Speaking to UCA News, Bishop Joseph Kunnath of Adilabad welcomed the peace overture as "a practical step."

However, the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate prelate also sounded a skeptical note, saying the outcome might be to "enhance (Naxalite) revival."

Bishop Gali Bali of Guntur, whose diocese covers a district that has recently seen an increase in Naxalite activity, told UCA News people have endured hardships because of extortion and threats from extremists. Guntur is 290 kilometers southeast of Hyderabad.

Bishop Bali lauded the government initiative but, like Bishop Kunnath, cautioned that it has several risks.

Both prelates acknowledged the rebels so far have spared Church people. Bishop Bali said the Naxalites have in fact appreciated his diocese's work among low-caste groups and the poor. Bishop Kunnath said priests, Religious and other Catholics in Adilabad have not had any problems with the PWG.

However, the group has periodically targeted politicians, police personnel and ordinary people. Former state Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu narrowly escaped when PWG activists ambushed his convoy Oct. 1 last year.

More than 5,000 people were reportedly killed in clashes between police and Naxalites over 30 years until 2002. Such clashed claimed about 300 lives last year.

For the peace talks, the state government appointed a seven-member team and the PWG named two office bearers of the Revolutionary Writers' Association and a popular revolutionary singer as its emissaries. The agenda, venue and dates for the talks have yet to be finalized.

Meanwhile, the government allowed the Maoist group to hold public meetings July 28 in three districts as part of the martyrs' memorial week the PWG has been observing for three decades.

During the first of those meetings, in Warangal, 190 kilometers northeast of the state capital, PWG emissaries declared the group would not give up arms even if peace talks got underway.

Revolutionary Writers' Association president G. Kalyan Rao said that though the PWG agreed to a cease-fire in the interests of an improved atmosphere for talks, it could not give up arms.

The representatives also listed former state Chief Minister Naidu and Nalin Prabhat, a former police official accused of staging several fake encounters, as the group's main enemies.

The police regarded these utterances as offensive and registered criminal cases against the emissaries for "provocative speeches."

Meanwhile state Home Minister K. Jana Reddy said the peace talks would be held on an issue-by-issue basis. At the same time, he cautioned the Naxalites not to take the government's leniency as a weakness.

John Gaddala, who works with Pragathi Seva Samithi (organization to serve people) in Warangal district, a Naxalite stronghold, said he believes the PWG is concerned with the poor and marginalized.

Gaddala, a Christian, told UCA News the government, instead of trying to bring the Naxalite into the mainstream, should offer development to the poor. This would help reduce the number of poor youth being recruited into the Naxalite fold, he added.

Pamela Mackenzie of International Network for Development, who works among tribals in Khammam district, told UCA News that Naxalites do not bother Church workers there.

Monsignor Pamietti Arogyam, vicar general of Nalgonda diocese, says the militants should disarm, since peace and arms do not go together. He suggested Religious congregations working in cities move out to villages to help the "poorest of the poor." According to him, private groups have proved they can replace Religious in addressing educational needs in cities.

Archbishop Joji claims he has received "reliable information" that some groups have decided to thwart the peace initiatives. The prelate, who has worked among tribals in Khammam district, said those groups are telling Naxalite cadres the government will deceive them if they give up arms.

Sam Paul, public affairs secretary for the All India Christian Council, which has units in all the districts of the state, says both the Naxalites and the government would benefit if the militants join the mainstream.

END

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RANCHI, India (UCAN) -- Bishops of eastern India are alarmed after a survey revealed that recruiters lure tribal Catholic women into slavery and prostitution, using "religious ways" to trick them.

Domestic Workers' Wing (DWW), an organization affiliated with the Catholic Church, started the survey last December. It presented the findings July 29 to a regional bishops' meeting in Ranchi. The meeting drew 18 bishops from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa states and the Andaman Islands.

Ranchi, 1,160 kilometers southeast of New Delhi, is the capital of Jharkhand state and the nerve center of the tribal Church in eastern India.

According to the survey, recruiting agencies from New Delhi and Mumbai use procurers based in Ranchi to gain access to remote tribal villages.

Father Cherubim Tirkey, spokesperson of the regional bishops' council, told UCA News the bishops "expressed grave concern over the modus operandi of those involved in the flesh trade in the guise of placement agents." He bemoaned that the brokers even use religious trappings to lure the women.

According to the survey, the agents often carry name cards bearing Christian names and religious symbols. Some of their agencies also have seemingly Catholic names such as Holy Cross, Mother Mary and Sacred Heart.

The survey noted that the recruiters give "advance payment" to the young women's parents to win over their confidence. "In most cases, the girls do not get any more money and are either forced to work as domestic help without wages or are handed over to brothels." In many cases, nothing more is heard of the young women, most of whom are between the ages of 15 and 22.

Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo of Ranchi termed the matter "a very big problem for the tribal Church of Jharkhand." The cardinal, from the Oraon tribal group, said Church leaders have yet to identify the forces that lure tribal women into prostitution. "But it is a kind of attack on Church," he remarked.

During last year's meeting, the bishops also discussed the plight of tribal maids. Cardinal Toppo, now president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, then termed the matter "most humiliating" and a serious national issue.

The recent survey found that about 400 tribal girls from Simdega diocese recently fell prey to agents and another 35 from a single village in Gumla district. Several villages of Latehar district in Daltonganj diocese are also hit by the "illegal and shoddy migration," the survey reported. These areas, all in Jharkhand, have high Christian tribal concentrations.

The report said the government has not kept its promise to set up village checkpoints and to have local district officials monitor recruitment agents.

The bishops' council termed the "illegal migration" as the "greatest problem" young tribal women face and held the state government responsible for not checking "the menace" despite media raising alarm over the issue.

Asked if the bishops' council had suggested any Church move to curb the migration, Father Tirkey said, "The Church cannot fight a menace of such proportions alone." However, he added, the council has resolved to carry out mass awareness programs through street plays in villages.

The priest clarified that the Church does not oppose tribal youth seeking employment elsewhere through safe and legal channels. But the bishops want to regularize the migration to save tribal women from sexual and economic exploitation, he said.

The bishops identified creation of local income-generating opportunities as an ideal scenario, and the council plans to activate local DWW units.

Father Tirkey also said the council has suggested setting up monitoring centers in cities to identify and rescue exploited tribal women.

In Ranchi, the DWW has opened schools and units to educate domestic workers and form self-help groups. It negotiates salaries for domestic workers and urges employers to follow minimum wage norms.

END

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SEOUL (UCAN) -- In keeping with the Korean Catholic Church's stance against the death penalty, a Seoul archdiocesan committee has recommended a Catholic lawyer to represent a man accused of killing 21 people.

Lawyer Stephen Cha Hyung-geun volunteered July 27 to represent Yoo Young-chul, accused of serial murders, after meeting him that day at the Seoul prosecutor's office. Police had handed Yoo to prosecutors the previous day after finishing their 10-day preliminary investigation of the case. Prosecutors must now determine whether or not to charge and try the man.

Local media reported that Yoo, 33, is accused of having killed 21 people since September 2003, mostly women working in red-light areas and several rich elderly people. Police arrested him July 15.

Father Thomas Lee Young-woo, president of Seoul archdiocese's Committee for the Social Correction Apostolate, told UCA News the committee proposed Cha represent Yoo in court. He explained that one reason for doing this is to show the people in society care for him, which may encourage him toward repentance if he is guilty of wrongdoing.

The accused man has not yet accepted the offer.

Cha, 45, is on the board of directors of the archdiocesan committee. He also is secretary general of Korea Death Penalty Abolition Committee (KDPAC), an interfaith group of Buddhist, Catholic and Protestant pastors and lawyers.

He told UCA News Aug. 3 that with public sentiment raging high against the alleged killer, it would not be easy to be Yoo's lawyer. He pointed out that he had received bomb threats since announcing his willingness to represent Yoo and been accused of wanting to handle the case merely for publicity.

"I am used to such threats and condemnation," Cha said, noting that he has represented about 10 murder suspects free of charge so far. Nonetheless, he added that he has stopped using his mobile phone due to unwanted calls.

The lawyer asserted, "It would be cowardly to evade this case, since I have been working to abolish the death penalty for 15 years."

Usually he volunteers to represent a suspect who is expected to be sentenced to death, Cha explained, saying that the goal of abolishing the death penalty can be furthered by decreasing the number of people facing it.

On Aug. 1, "Chosun Ilbo," a daily newspaper, reported that in a July 27 survey, 66.3 percent of 700 respondents agreed "the death penalty is needed." It said the percentage of those in favor of the death penalty has increased over the figure from 10 years ago due to the serial killings.

Cha said that when he met Yoo at the prosecutor's office, he told the man his case had set back the movement to abolish the death penalty. Before the high-profile case emerged, Cha expected South Korea might abolish capital punishment this year.

The anti-death penalty activist pointed out that the last State executions in the country were on Dec. 23, 1997, when 23 people were put to death.

According to the Justice Ministry, 58 convicts are under sentence of death.

Cha said the KDPAC filed a complaint in 1995 with the Constitutional Court against the death penalty. According to the lawyer, the court ruled that capital punishment was not unconstitutional and that South Korean society was not ready to abolish it. But Cha says society has matured enough since then to consider abolition.

Father Lee also is optimistic. He acknowledges Yoo's case has revived sentiment for the death penalty, but he says lawmakers' awareness has been raised enough that he still expects them to abolish it this year.

On July 16, Yoo In-tae, a lawmaker of the ruling Uri Party, announced he would submit a bill to abolish the death penalty to the National Assembly in August. He proposes substituting life imprisonment for the death penalty.

Korea's Catholic bishops have integrated their stance against the death penalty with other pro-life issues. In February 2003 the bishops' conference launched the "Life 31" movement aims at abolishing the death penalty, human cloning research and the Mother and Child Health Law, which permits abortion.

Beyond opposition to capital punishment, Cha says he will run the risk of social condemnation to represent Yoo because every person has the right to be judged fairly and objectively.

According to the police report, Yoo nursed a hatred of women and wealthy people after his divorce in 2002, while he was in prison for theft.

END

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KUALA LUMPUR (UCAN) -- Mel Gibson's controversial movie "The Passion of the Christ" has finally been approved for screening in Malaysia, subject to a controversial condition -- only Christians will be allowed to view it.

The movie is scheduled to be shown Aug. 11-12 in designated cinemas in this Muslim-majority country. Churches also can screen it, privately.

The online newspaper "Malaysiakini" quoted Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as saying: "The government was approached by a specific group of people asking if they could view the movie in the premises of their churches, and we allowed it by going one step further by giving permission for it to be viewed by Christians in cinemas."

Last April, distributors for the film reported they could not get approved for any screenings, because censorship regulations in the country forbid the showing of images of any prophet found in the Qur'an. Jesus is regarded in Islam as a prophet.

The restrictive approval now has drawn criticism from several quarters.

Teresa Kok, a Catholic and a member of the opposition Democratic Action Party, urged the Ministry of Home Affairs to review its decision to limit the screening to Christians. She said, in an Aug. 5 statement, that the move contradicts the government's policy of promoting racial and religious tolerance, and violates the Malaysian Constitution.

Kok argued that "merely watching a movie about a religious figure would not automatically convert a person to another religion." Rather, she said, "it would help promote deeper understanding of the religion."

At least one Muslim commentator has expressed a similar view. Columnist Rose Ismail wrote in the "New Straits Times," a newspaper that usually reflects government thinking: "The ban implies that Malaysian Muslims' devotion to Islam is tenuous and shallow, that we are easily seduced by religious beliefs."

Meanwhile, Reverend Hermen Shastri, general secretary of the Council of Churches in Malaysia, also expressed disagreement with this restriction.

"This goes against the grain of fostering interreligious understanding, a cornerstone of Malaysian social life since the independence of our country. We have expressed our displeasure and made our appeal," he said in Kuala Lumpur at the opening press conference for the July 28-Aug. 6 meeting of the World Council of Churches' commission on Faith and Order.

"The Passion" drew large crowds around the world following its release in March. It drew criticism both for its graphic portrayal of the last hours of Jesus' life and for alleged anti-Semitism.

END

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MAKATI CITY, Philippines (UCAN) -- The Philippine Catholic bishops' Commission on Youth has published a directory, its first, to provide a theoretical framework and practical guidelines for a concerted youth ministry.

The 208-page book hopes to give the Church's ministry to the young a "common language for this ongoing dialogue and harmonious blend of theory and action, research and ministry," says Father Rey Anthony Yatco, the commission's executive secretary.

It is titled "Ka-Lakbay: Directory for Catholic Youth Ministry in the Philippines." In Filipino, "ka-lakbay" means "travel companion."

The directory is designed to "accompany, assist and guide" the ministry," Father Yatco explained to 300 priests, nuns, seminarians, youths and teachers who gathered with parish and other school workers at San Carlos Seminary in Makati City, southeast of Manila.

In addition to presenting the context of youth ministry in the country, the book articulates the ministry's vision and mission, and identifies its components, strategies, human resources and targets.

Salesian Father Martin Macasaet, who headed the editorial team for the directory, told UCA News the book addresses "a long-felt need." He added, "It's a good starting point, (because) we lack the right motivations or we have many efforts but they are scattered."

Aside from problems of coordination and networking, the directory cited effective organizational structures, finances and programs for particular youth needs as areas of concern.

At the sharing during the launch, Joel Reginales, 24, wondered, "Am I effective as a youth minister?" He related experiences with youth leaders that led him to doubt his impact.

Reginales recalled a trip to Italy, He said that upon exiting the aircraft, youth leaders "were bragging about spoons and forks they had sneaked out of the plane." He also related an encounter with a participant of his values formation seminar who told him she was planning to elope because she had become pregnant.

Daughters of Mary Sister Estrella Castalone, co-executive secretary of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines, shared a feeling of surprise she had during a session with a youth group. The students characterized as "ancient" and "boring" her chosen opening activity, a religious song commonly used in seminars. The group wanted to do a popular dance instead, the nun said.

According to Heidi Espiritu, junior staff of the Commission on Youth, financial difficulties are a major problem in poorer provinces. She told UCA News parishes in those provinces send few participants to national activities because they have no funds for transportation. Sometimes, young people work to raise the needed funds. "I've heard of some who cleaned gravestones or worked in a car wash" to earn money for their trip and activities, Espiritu said.

The Church's National Filipino Catholic Youth Survey of 2002 was a random sampling of 1,067 single, Catholic Filipino residents 13-39 years old. The average age of the survey subjects was 18. More than 52 percent were in school and close to 20 percent were employed, while 1.6 percent were working students. Some 26.4 percent were either out of school or unemployed, and 39.6 percent reported joining Church organizations. Some were doing volunteer work.

One of the consultants for the directory project was Jessica Joy Candelario, secretary of the Office of Laity youth desk of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences. In summarizing the book at the launch, she said "the task of youth ministry is to evangelize, to proclaim the Good News." She elaborated that youth ministers evangelize by initiating the young from a faith "of convention" to one of "conviction." Ministers should then help the young person "acknowledge the need to share one's faith" through fruitful community involvement.

Youth ministers are charged with helping young people mature into "God's great design" for them. "That end is in itself youth ministry's mission," Candelario noted.

To achieve this, youth ministry must be centered on Christ and must be "one with the Church and concerned with the growth of the total person," the directory reminds workers. The ministry must "begin, continue and find completion" in the presence and interest of the young and seek to build community. It must be "dialogical" and "self-duplicating," Candelario added, explaining that youth programs must inspire young people to become youth "ministers and animators."

After the presentation of the book, young ministry workers clad in jeans and with kerchiefs on their heads led guests in dancing and singing the directory theme song "Diyos ng Bagong Sayaw" (Lord of the new dance.)

The "Ka-Lakbay" directory was conceived in 1996 after youth ministers requested a study of the structure of the Church's youth ministry. This request resulted in National Youth Coordinating Council meetings, consultations, conferences and workshops. The directory was drafted using input from the consultations, the Church's national survey on youth and discussions at various youth days and Asian youth ministers' meetings.

The youth commission plans to run seminars and retreats aimed at fostering among youth ministers "understanding and ownership" of the directory's vision, mission and framework, Father Macasaet said at the launch.

In his welcome speech Bishop Rolando Tria Tirona of Infanta, chairman of the bishops' commission on youth, described the directory as a book about making the marks of Christ's "compassion, love, care, and interest" for others visible in young people's hearts.

He told UCA News, "We sent the bishops and their youth ministers their copy." The directory also will be sold for 200 pesos (US$3.58), with the proceeds going toward its production cost and the commission's operational costs, the bishop added.

END

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