News from the Orient – June 7, 2024
Vatican news
In this week's news from the Eastern Churches, produced in collaboration with L'Œuvre d'Orient, there are elections in India, the solemnity of Corpus Christi is celebrated in the East and the martyrs of Damascus will soon be saints .
This week's Oriental News:
Elections in India
Tuesday June 4, the BJP, the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, won the Indian legislative elections. This victory aroused concern among Christians in the country. Since coming to power in 2014, the nationalist prime minister's policies have aimed to transform India into a Hindu nation. Discrimination, attacks and acts of vandalism against Christian and Muslim places of worship are commonplace. Today, Christians represent 2.3% of the Indian population, or 27 to 30 million faithful. Of these, 2,330 are currently imprisoned and represent nearly half of the Christians incarcerated worldwide because of their faith.
Solemnity of Corpus Christi in the East
On Thursday, May 30, many celebrations were organized in the East for the feast of Corpus Christi. Catholics and Orthodox Christians from the city of Zahle, Lebanon, gathered for a unified procession. They marched through the streets of the city, praying and singing. The Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Youssef Al-Absi, was present at the event. Young people and scouts also organized a torchlight march. In Iraq, a mass was celebrated by Mgr Mirkis at Kirkuk Cathedral, followed by a procession of the Blessed Sacrament led by the cathedral priest. The next morning, 28 children from across Kirkuk celebrated their first communion.
The martyrs of Damascus soon to be saints
The Pope opened the way for the canonization of the “Martyrs of Damascus”, eight Franciscan brothers and three Maronite laymen, killed out of hatred of the faith in Damascus in 1860. They were beatified on October 10, 1926, almost 100 years ago. years. . This martyrdom occurred in the context of persecution of Christians by the Druze in Mount Lebanon and Syria. On the night of July 9th and on 10, 1860, a Druze commando infiltrated the Franciscan convent in the Christian district of Bab-Touma and massacred the Christians. Before killing the eleven victims, the attackers asked them to renounce the Christian faith, which they refused.
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