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Statement of the National United Christian Forum (NUCF)

Issued at the National Consultation on “Upholding Constitutional Rights of Minorities, with Special Reference to Christians”

This meeting of the leadership of the Church in India takes place in a moment of global crisis in which people of faith are facing mass violence, even extermination in the Middle-East at the hands of religious fanatics. We offer our prayers for and stand in solidarity with the Christian communities in Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and neighboring countries. The situation in those parts of the world once again brings home to us the dangers of religious intolerance.

We, therefore, rejoice in India’s ancient and rich diversity of cultures, languages, religions and ethnicities. We celebrate the Constitution of India and the strength of its institutions. Our deep love for and commitment to our country and our fellow citizens lends urgency to our reflection on the challenges that we face as a nation.

The cultural DNA of India of pluralism and diversity is being threatened. We are anxious about the implications of the fundamentalist political thesis that India is “one nation, one people and one culture”. A nation of cultural homogeneity is an impossibility and any effort to impose it is fraught with grave ramifications for country.

The Church in India asserts its stake in the country’s development. As citizens and followers of Christ, we have contributed to and continue to work for social development in all spheres of national life. We are committed to protecting the dignity of the human being in this great nation. We participate in this endeavor with other religious and social communities, civil society and all people of good will.

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NCCI Stands with the Grieving and Suffering Bomb attack Victims in Pakistan

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pakistan-articleLargeNagpur, March 16, 2015: The National Council of Churches in India expresses its deep shock and painful concern over the continuous attack on innocent public, including Christians, in Pakistan.
As reported by the Media at least 70 people were injured and 15 lost their lives to these inhuman assassinations yesterday ( 15 March 2015) in a Catholic Church and the Christ Church in Youhanabad near Lahore City, where Christians have lived together for years in amity and peace.
The NCCI considers these assaults not merely as attacks on public and innocent citizens of Pakistan, but rather as intentional attacks on ‘Pakistan’ itself’.
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NCCI prays for the team involved in Crisis Relief International (CRI) at Queragosh and Erbil

In solidarity with all those being persecuted for their faith, particularly children

Mail Attachment (1)The National Council of Churches in India calls upon all its constituent members along with the Member Churches and other non-member churches to unite in prayer for the misguided terrorists who are involved in extreme Islamic goals of mass conversion or death not even sparing the little children.  The NCCI pleads with all those who read this mail to forward it to your churches to pray unitedly in your intercessory prayers.

May this Lenten Season bring light upon those who are misguided in the name of religion.

PRAYER:
Lord, we come before you in sadness and grief for the people facing persecution in Your Holy name.  Your Son Jesus Christ suffered and died for us.  In His resurrection He restores life and peace in all creation.  Comfort them Lord, we pray, all victims of intolerance and those oppressed by their fellow humans.  Remember in your kingdom those who have died.  Lead the mis-guided terrorists towards compassion and give hope to the suffering.
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Dr. Mathews George Chunakara elected General Secretary of CCA

DrChunakaraDr. Mathews George Chunakara, a lay member of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church in India has been elected unanimously as the new General Secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) for a term of five years by the General Committee of the CCA which met  at the Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand from 10-12 February 2015.
Mathews George Chunakara is the first Indian citizen to be elected to this position. He will succeed Rev. Dr. Henriette Hutabarat Lebang from Indonesia, who was elected General Secretary in 2010.
Dr. Mathews George Chunakara comes with rich ecumenical experiences in Asia and at the global level. He held various positions in his own country in India, Asia region and at the global level during the past thirty years. He was Director of the Commission of Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, Switzerland from 2009 to 2014. Prior to that, he served as Asia Secretary of the WCC (2000- 2009) and Executive Secretary for International Affairs of the CCA in Hong Kong (1993- 2000).
Mathews George has made significant contributions to the ecumenical formation and leadership development in Asia, peace and reconciliation, advocacy on human rights, justice and development, religious freedom, communal harmony and developing and nurturing relations with churches in  communist countries and governments in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Peoples Republic of China and North Korea through his work in CCA and WCC. He facilitated the founding of three National Councils of Churches in Asia – Cambodia, Nepal and Bhutan.

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Vandalism and attacks on Churches in India condemned – Press note from Church of South India

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Please see here the press note from Church of South India (CSI) condemning the attacks on Churches in India and demanding action.

PRESS RELEASE

TO CONDEMN THE ATTACKS AND VANDALISM ON CHURCHES IN NEW DELHI BY THE CHURCH OF SOUTH INDIA

Members Present:

  1. The Most Rev. Dr. G. Dyvasirvadam , Moderator, Church of South India
  2. The Rt. Rev. Thomas K. Oommen, Deputy Moderator
  3. Rev. Dr. D.R. Sadananda, General Secretary
  4. Adv. C. Robert Bruce, Honorary Treasurer
  5. The Rt. Rev. Dr. G. Devakadasham,  Former Moderator, Church of South India &      Bishop in CSI Kanyakumari Diocese
  6. Rev. T. Devaputhiran, Administrative Secretary, CSI Madras Diocese
  7. Mr. Arthur Sadhanandham, Executive Committee Member, Church of South India
  8. Dr. Vimal Sukumar, CSI Medak Diocese

 

The recent vandalism and attacks on five Churches in different directions of the city of New Delhi has evoked a strong sense of insecurity and anguish among the Christian community in India.  This is an alarming atmosphere apparently linked to the Ghar Wapsy Programme organized by some religious fanatics.  There is a strong feeling that the Central Government is not doing enough to reassure the minority communities in the country in spite of the continued orchestrated and systematic attack and vandalism on Churches which included miscreants, breaking open the Churches and desecrating hol y objects and also setting a church on fire.

The Church at large in India demands that the Government should initiate a judicial enquiry and also take steps to ensure repair and restoration of the damaged churches. The Prime Minister is still silent on the issue. With the backdrop of these attacks, he should have come forward and issued a statement installing confidence and security amongst the peace loving Christian community in the country.

The church is a minority community in the country but the contribution and impact it made on the country’s development has been immense and unparalleled particularly in the fields of education and health. The Church in South India urges the Central government to create a sense of security, safety and a new hope for the minority communities not just the Christian minority community but all the minority communities at large.

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For our ongoing Solidarity and Commitment

Life with Dignity: Kairos Palestine 5th Anniversary
Kairos Palestine | Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum | Alternative Tourism Group
Conference Statement  

From December 2–4, 2014, over 250 participants from Palestine and many other countries[1] gathered in Bethlehem to commemorate the 5th anniversary of “A Moment of Truth: A Word of Faith, Hope, and Love from the Heart of Palestinian Suffering,” known as Kairos Palestine. The document,[2] produced by a broadly ecumenical group of Palestinian Christian leaders, offered a word of hope in a hopeless situation. It signaled a strong commitment for Palestinian Christians to participate fully in creative resistance to end Israeli occupation, a reality we again describe as “a sin against God and humanity.”

The document has developed into an active global movement. People in many other contexts, inspired by Kairos Palestine, have linked their local struggles for justice with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and dignity for all peoples in Palestine and Israel.
We thank God for the many churches that have received, studied, and offered comment on the document. We thank God also for the many ways Kairos Palestine is accompanied by so many Kairos movements around the world, each seeking justice in their own context, joining their struggle to that of the Palestinian people.

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NCCC-USA calls for accountability

 “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them

is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are
all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
-Jesus, as recounted in Luke 12:6-7 (NRSV)

The decision of a Staten Island grand jury not to indict police officer Daniel Panteleo in the death of Eric Garner, coupled with the recent decision of a St. Louis grand jury not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown, has sparked nationwide outrage and protests.

The National Council of Churches calls upon prosecutors and police forces, juries and judges, to hold police officers accountable when they kill.  The appropriate place to judge innocence or guilt is not in the grand jury but in a trial setting where defense and prosecution come together to carefully present the facts of a case.

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Open letter to Palestinian prisoners. In Solidarity and with prayers

palestAs we celebrate the World Week of Prayer for Palestine and Israel, with its focus this year on all those Palestinians who are unjustly imprisoned by Israel, and the theme being “Let My People Go!”, Rev. Dr. Roger Gaikwad, General Secretary of NCCI has written an open  letter expressing solidarity with them and assuring them of our prayers.

In Solidarity

Dear Unjustly Imprisoned Palestinian Brothers and Sisters,

As you undergo the brutalities of injustice and suffering meted out to you by the Israeli authorities, we express our deepest solidarity with you in your present condition.
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Solidarity Letter to Japan

To,

National Council of Churches in Japan

Korean Christian Church in Japan

Nihon Krisuto Kyodan

Nippon Sei Ko Kai

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

On behalf of the National Council of Churches in India, I express our solidarity with you as you have experienced two natural calamities:

the Neoguri typhoon and the 6.5-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan’s northern coast on Saturday, 11 July 2014, not far from the site of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, triggering a small tsunami.

Our hearts go out to those who have been hit by these disasters, suffering loss of their houses and property, and being forced to seek shelter and protection elsewhere. As you go through the heartache of all your losses, you also, we are sure, will be resilient to face the challenges and re- settling yourselves, hard and painful though the process may be. We pray that the comforting presence and spirit of God will give you strength and fortitude to overcome the recent setbacks.

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Agonize in prayer, Express solidarity, Campaign for justice

The situation in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel, and Palestine, as we all are aware, is of global concern. The conflict in Syria appears on the surface to be a battle between those loyal to President Bashar Al-Assadand those who oppose him. The uprising against him began in March 2011 in Deraa, when several demonstrators were killed by security forces while protesting against the arrest of some teenagers who had painted revolutionary slogans on a school wall. This spread to nationwide protests in May, demanding the President’s resignation.

The death toll in Syria’s three-year conflict has climbed past 160,000, as per the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a harrowing figure that reflects the relentless bloodletting in a civil war that appears no closer to being resolved. The crisis has also uprooted some 6.5 million people from their homes, forced 2.7 million to flee the country, laid waste to cities and towns alike, and unleashed sectarian hatreds that have rippled across the region. (cf. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/syria-death-toll/)

The ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan have taken a tremendous toll on the people of those countries. As of April 2014, at the very least, 174,000 civilians have been determined to have died violent deaths because of the wars. The actual number of deaths, direct and indirect, as a result of the wars is many times higher than this figure.

The decade long war in Afghanistan has continued to take lives with each passing year. As of February 2014, at least 21,000 civilians are estimated to have died violent deaths due to  the war. The total number of civilians killed in Pakistan may be as high as or higher than the toll in Afghanistan, with NGO estimates ranging widely between 20,000 and 50,000 recorded deaths. In Iraq, over 70 percent of those who died of direct war violence have been civilians. Iraq Body Count conservatively estimates that at least 1,33,000 civilians have been killed in direct violence due to war between the invasion and early May 2014. In addition to the direct consequences of violence represented by these numbers, thousands more Iraqis, Afghans and Pakistanis are falling victim to the dangers of a battered infrastructure and poor health conditions arising from wars. In the case of Iraq, excess deaths indirectly resulting from the war add several times the 1,33,000 civilians killed directly by violence.

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