Christian pastor among six arrested for ‘seditious book’ in Hong Kong

 

Hong Kong’s national security police have arrested six individuals including a Christian pastor on charges of the production and sale of a book on the anti-extradition protests of 2019-2020 which allegedly has seditious content.

Alan Keung Ka-wai, a pastor of Christianity Mission in Hong Kong, and five others were arrested during raids at various locations, Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) reported referring to a police statement, on Jan. 18.

Alan also known as “Pastor Keung” was closely involved in delivering first aid to injured protesters and police officers during the anti-extradition protests of 2019 and is a founder of Free HK Media news outlet.

The book had “seditious” content and the individuals aged 18-62 were “members of an anti-government organization,” the police stated in its press release without divulging the name of the book.

“The book’s content advocates for Hong Kong independence, as well as incite others to overthrow the central authorities and Hong Kong’s government, use violence, and flout the law or any lawful orders,” the police statement read.

Allegedly, the book has content on “a series of riots that occurred in Hong Kong from June 2019 to February 2020,” and was sold at the Lunar New Year fair in Mong Kok between December 2022 and January 2023.

The display stall operated by “Shame on You Grocery Store” was the prime focus of the coordinated raid by the National Security and Customs Departments, local media reported.

The seller on its Facebook page had earlier stated that it was publishing a 400-page book about the violent protests in Hong Kong against the anti-extradition law. The group also publicly announced the selling of the book at the fair that began on the Christmas Day

The police arrested three of the accused during a raid at the Lunar New Year fair at Ginza Plaza in Mong Kok on Jan. 17 evening and the others were arrested from Kowloon and the New Territories.

The officials have seized 43 copies of the said book from the homes, offices, and other premises of the accused who were later remanded into police custody.

The police have also found other products that “glorified violence or opposed the government” from the stall operated by the group, the statement read.

Independent fairs have popped up across the city to compensate for the lack of dry goods stalls which is a staple of Hong Kong’s largest seasonal markets – the Lunar New Year fairs.

In November 2019, the Hong Kong administration banned the sale of dry goods—such as decorations and t-shirts – which often included political satire in them.

Groups have used the fair to collect funding for their activities and support the jailed leaders in their legal battle.

At this year’s fair, the Democratic Party was also selling products to support its members Wu Chi-wai, Lam Cheuk-ting, and Andrew Wan.

The trio is among the 47 well-known political figures who were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion over their involvement in unofficial legislative primary elections held in July 2020.

Beijing has used the sweeping National Security Law and the colonial-era sedition law to muzzle dissent and a strong pro-democracy movement that rocked Hong Kong in 2019.

The protests forced the Hong Kong authorities to withdraw the anti-extradition bill, only to come up with Beijing-imposed draconian national security law.

Hundreds of pro-democracy supporters have been detained and awaiting trials. Some of the defendants including prominent Catholics including Cardinal Joseph Zen and Catholic media tycoon Jimmy Lai were convicted.

Korean Church pledges support to Halloween stampede victims

 

Archbishop Peter Soon-taek Chung of Seoul has assured the Korean Church’s continued support for the families of the victims of the Halloween stampede while visiting them. 

Archbishop Chung met the family members at a center dedicated to the victims of the October tragedy near Noksapyeong Station in the South Korean capital along with senior clergy and officials of the archdiocese, reported the Seoul archdiocesan news portal, Good News.

“I wanted to tell you that we are praying together for your broken hearts,” said Archbishop Chung during the meeting.

Archbishop Chung joined a common prayer for the eternal rest of the victims.

Lee Jong-cheol, a representative of the bereaved families, said they are grateful for the visit and the archbishop's prayer promises.

“I would like the Vatican to offer prayers or words of consolation for the victims of the Itaewon disaster,” he further added.

Archbishop Chung accepted the request and agreed to convey it to South Korean Cardinal Lazarus Heung-sik You, the Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Clergy.

He also promised to offer assistance to the families seeking to cope with the great loss.

The stampede at the Itaewon area of the capital city occurred on Oct. 29 when around 100,000 people in Halloween costumes poured into two narrow streets for partying, resulting in a stampede.

At least 154 people, including 26 foreigners, were killed and 33 people were hospitalized in the stampede.

The tragedy sparked national and global outrage over lax crowd control, which was blamed for the fatalities.

The police had deployed 137 officers to the event, a number significantly higher than in previous years.

However, most police deployed were focused on monitoring drug use, rather than crowd control, local media reported.

The widespread public outrage resulted in a detailed police investigation into the events that transpired on the day of the tragedy.

The National Police Agency investigation team’s report has recommended involuntary manslaughter and negligence charges against 23 South Korean officials.

The report cited a lack of safety measures as the cause of the Halloween crowd surge.

Those recommended for indictment in the report include Park Hee-young, the Mayor of Yongsan district, and Lee Im-jae, the district's former police chief.

On Nov. 6, 2022, Archbishop Chung offered a requiem Mass at Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul which was attended by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee along with hundreds of Catholics.

“I feel regretful and ashamed that our society has failed to protect its younger generation,” the prelate had stated in his homily during the mass.

In November the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea (CBCK) issued a statement grieving the loss of lives and called for a proper investigation into the incident.

The bishops had termed the tragedy a result of “the cycle of injustice and irresponsibility” that has become a common practice in this society, which all must strive to break.

Philippines must end impunity for clergy sexual abuse : Fr Shay Cullen

 

Priests and bishops like everyone else can be sinners and must be held responsible for crimes against children.

The protection of children from harm, and especially sexual abuse, is the prime responsibility of every parent and every adult especially those with moral and legal responsibility in Church and State.

An alleged child rapist priest, Karole Reward Ubina Israel, 29, of Solana, Cagayan was arrested last October and hopefully will be charged with child sex abuse in court. The child victim was 15 years old when she was allegedly first abused by him. The priest was suspended by his diocese soon after the arrest.

The process of law is progressing with the prosecutor deciding to send the rape charges to the court but Israel's lawyer asked for reconsideration, a normal legal action.

The first set of charges was based on the fact that he was arrested in the act of abusing a child. A charge of seduction of a minor put him in jail immediately. The accused applied to the court for bail and got it.

We are awaiting the decision of the prosecutor on the rape charges. Those charges are non-bailable and he will have to return to jail, unless he escapes abroad.

According to the testimony of the child victim, this priest in Cagayan videotaped the sexual abuse of the child several times and threatened to post them on social media that would instill fear, intimidate and control the child.

"It is able to protect child abusers and allow victims to suffer and intimidate government officials"

Israel admits the sexual acts but he claims it was consensual. The victim denies that. The videos used to blackmail her make that a useless defense.

Republic Act 11930 otherwise known as the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Act says in Section 5: “Effect of Consent of the Victim — The consent of the victim is not material or relevant and shall not be available as a defense in the prosecution of the unlawful acts prohibited under this Act.”

He is one of the very few priests ever charged in court in the Philippines with child abuse and not one has ever been convicted or gone to prison. The priests enjoy total impunity, it seems. That is an invitation for them to continue abusing children and more to do so.

Such is the power of the Church as an institution. It is able to protect child abusers and allow victims to suffer and intimidate government officials in allowing out-of-court settlements.

Over a dozen complaints of child sexual abuse against Filipino priests have been filed with prosecutors in recent years but all have been settled privately or dismissed by prosecutors.

There are seven priests serving today in various dioceses that fled child abuse allegations or convictions in the United States and sought refuge here. As Cardinal Antonio Tagle said in two television interviews, including HardTalk on the BBC, the Church considers child abuse an internal matter and deals with it privately. Pope Francis disagrees. Suspects should be turned over to the civil authorities as crimes may have been committed.

Defenders of children applaud the revelation of the truth about this case, painful as it is to the victim and the community. It is only the truth that will alert and warn people that child abusers can be anybody and abuse anytime, anywhere. Everyone must be protective of children.

Priests and bishops, like everyone else, can be sinners and must be held responsible, like everyone else, for crimes against children. There must be no impunity, deference or special protection for them. The law applies equally to all and when the evidence is compelling and convincing, the punishment must follow the law.

Posting child abuse images to blackmail or intimidate victims is one of the worst negative uses of social media as Father Karole Israel allegedly did to his victims. Internet-based platforms such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, and TikTok, are used to post vile, degrading and abusive images of children being sexually abused.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are the pathways by which images and videos are posted online and the channels by which child sexual abuse images and live-streamed videos of child abuse shows are shared with depraved pedophile criminals around the world who order and pay for them. This is a terrible crime forbidden by RA 11930 passed in July 2022.

"Everyone — parents, citizens, Church, and State — are challenged to behave in a morally correct way"

The challenge for ISPs and their telecom corporation owners is to provide the most powerful artificial intelligence (AI)-driven software to detect and capture and block such evil images and videos from being transmitted. This is mandated by law RA11930.

It may be impossible, as there are so many, to prevent them from being made and posted but not impossible to intercept and capture and block them from reaching the public or the intended abusers and then report them to the authorities so the abusers can be identified and brought to justice.

The social media platforms under Philippine law are called “participative network platform providers” or “social media intermediaries,” and have been used to fix elections, brainwash the public, and transmit evil content, such as child rape videos and images and live-streaming of child abuse. They are mandated by Philippine law (RA11930) to identify and block and remove such content from reaching the public. They do this in Germany, Australia, France and Turkey, the US and other EU countries lest they be held criminally liable for illegal content on their platforms.

They have outsourced this work to contractors that hire call-center workers to train as “content moderators” in the Philippines and elsewhere. These Filipinos have to view a quota of child-abusive images and other hateful and barbaric posts on the platforms and judge whether to keep or delete them. They apparently do not report them to the authorities as the law says they should. What is needed is to install AI-driven detection software.

One content moderator out of thousands can see 1,000 abusive images in one day and decide to delete them but first must report them to the Philippine Internet Crimes against Children Center established in 2019 to investigate the source of the abusive material and hold the people responsible for posting the abusive material accountable. It is already totally overwhelmed by the task, how much more if they received the content found by the content moderation call centers?

Everyone — parents, citizens, Church, and State — are challenged to behave in a morally correct way and respect and follow the Gospel mandate.

Jesus of Nazareth says children are the most important in the world above all others, even bishops. He also says a millstone be tied around the neck of abusers and they be brought to justice (Matthew 18:1-7). That is what we must all strive to do but above all help the victims to heal, recover and be empowered.

London Bridge attack 'skateboard hero' is on path to sainthood

 

A 39-year-old Spaniard known as the “skateboard hero” for his acts of valour during the 2017 London Bridge attack is on the path to sainthood.

On June 3, 2017, Ignacio Echeverría ran towards terrorists who were wielding 12-inch knives in Borough Market. 

Earlier they had driven into the crowds in a van.

While cycling to a skate park to meet friends, Echeverría had observed a man attacking a police officer and subsequently, a woman. Dismounting his bicycle, he grabbed his skateboard, dashing towards the terrorists. He struck one with his skateboard.

This distracted the attacker, thus allowing several members of the public to escape to safety.

Echeverría then saw a second terrorist assailing a policeman. He turned towards him, but was stabbed twice in the back by two other terrorists. He died of his wounds. 

Joaquín Echeverría, his father, described Ignacio as “an ordinary person who always stood up for what he believed in”. 

Before his death, Echeverría had indicated a desire to fight terrorists.

His father, Joaquin Echeverría told The Tablet: “He  came to Madrid after the terror attack at Westminster in March 2017. We were discussing the bravery of the policeman who died after being stabbed [PC Keith Palmer].

“Ignacio said, ‘If I had been skating in Westminster when the attack happened, that policeman would still be alive now.’”

A financial crimes analyst for HSBC in London, Echeverría was posthumously awarded the George Medal by the Queen and Spain’s Order of Civil Merit. Skate parks in Alicante and Madrid now bear his name while a musical titled Skate Hero chronicles the last 24 hours of his life.

In July 2017, a month after Echeverría’s death, Pope Francis announced a fourth possible way to attain sainthood, Oblatio Vitae, or the offering of one’s life for another. 

In an apostolic letter announcing the move, the Pope said: “The heroic offering of life, suggested and sustained by charity, expresses a true, complete and exemplary imitation of Christ.” 

This prompted the auxiliary bishop of Madrid, Juan Antonio Martínez Camino, to approach the Echeverría family to inquire whether they would like Ignacio to be considered as a candidate for sainthood.

His father said: “I would like Ignacio’s death to be useful. I trust he is already in heaven but if his death helps other people who ask for his intercession, what he did was worthwhile.” 

Sr. Echeverría announced on Twitter that the canonisation process had opened in Madrid. His son held law degrees from the Complutense University in Madrid and the University of the Sorbonne in Paris.

The Spanish website, ReligionenLibertad quoted Echeverría’s brother who said Ignacio had “often risked his job to ensure things were done the right way.”

After his death, the Echeverría family discovered that Ignacio had given catechesis sessions to Spanish-speaking children at his local parish in Poplar, east London.

Catholic bishops applaud Illinois weapons ban

 

The Catholic bishops of Illinois have applauded that state’s political leaders for enacting an assault weapons ban.

The new law passed on 11 January and took effect immediately.

It bans the sale or distribution of assault weapons, or semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and pistols designed for military use, as well as high-capacity magazines and ammunition devices capable of feeding 10 or more rounds into a gun chamber.

Those who currently own such weapons are required to register them with the state.

“The Catholic Conference of Illinois would like to commend the Illinois General Assembly and Governor J B Pritzker on banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines with the passage of House Bill 5471,” read a statement posted on the website of the state Catholic conference.

“Too many times our state has witnessed the horror of mass shootings, and we hope this legislation will help to provide some peace in our communities going forward,” the bishops continued.

“We are grateful for the ban of these deadly weapons in our state. We also recognize that, as was stated in the debate over the legislation, this will not solve all the challenges associated with mass shootings. There is much more to do.

“We live in a violent culture, mental health needs are many, and too many families are in crisis. We stand ready to work with the General Assembly to help address these challenges.”

The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimates there are 24.4 million semi-automatic weapons in circulation in the United States.

According to data from the Center for Disease Control, there were 1,745 gun-related deaths in Illinois in 2020, the last year for which data is posted.

Police statistics in Chicago indicated that there were 2832 gun-related incidents in 2022, and 695 homicides.

Illinois becomes the ninth state to adopt an assault weapons’ ban but it is not clear if the laws will withstand a constitutional challenge.

The conservative majority on the US Supreme Court has repeatedly thrown out efforts to restrict access to guns. 

Schönborn criticises Gänswein's 'indiscretion' but confirms details

 

The Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn OP, has confirmed that it was he who encouraged Joseph Ratzinger to accept the conclave’s decision – if elected – to become the successor to Pope John Paul II.

Benedict’s long-serving secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, revealed Schönborn’s identity in his book Nothing but the Truth, published in Italy as Nient’altro che la verita last week.

CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, reported on 18 January that Cardinal Schönborn confirmed Gänswein’s assertion that Schönborn had written Cardinal Ratzinger “a little letter just in case”.

At the same time, the Archbishop of Vienna accused Gänswein of committing an act of “unseemly indiscretion” with his book by publishing “confidential things”, according to the Archdiocese of Vienna’s website.

Cardinal Schönborn said he had “so far deliberately kept silent” about his note to Benedict, noting “it happened within the context of the meeting of the cardinals, and not at the conclave itself”.

Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the letter on 25 April 2005, during an audience with pilgrims from Germany.

The address is famous among German Catholics as the “guillotine speech” – Fallbeilrede in German.

In it, Benedict compared the experience of his election to that of having the axe of a guillotine dropping down on him. The guillotine blade in German is called a fallbeil.

Speaking about what swayed him to accept his election, the then newly-elected pontiff revealed he had been “very touched by a brief note written to me by a brother cardinal”.

Benedict said: “He reminded me that on the occasion of the Mass for John Paul II, I had based my homily, starting from the Gospel, on the Lord’s words to Peter by the Lake of Gennesaret: ‘Follow me!’

“I spoke of how, again and again, Karol Wojtyla received this call from the Lord, and how each time he had to renounce much and to simply say: ‘Yes, I will follow you, even if you lead me where I never wanted to go.’

Benedict’s speech continued: “This brother cardinal wrote to me: Were the Lord to say to you now, ‘Follow me’, then remember what you preached. Do not refuse! Be obedient in the same way that you described the great Pope, who has returned to the house of the Father.

“This deeply moved me. The ways of the Lord are not easy, but we were not created for an easy life, but for great things, for goodness.”

Benedict added: “Thus, in the end, I had to say ‘yes’.”

In his book, Gänswein also addressed the fact that Schönborn and Ratzinger were on a first-name basis.

Apart from Benedict’s childhood friends, Cardinal Schönborn, a member of Ratzinger’s circle of students, was one of the few who addressed his former teacher as “Du” (the informal “You”), Gänswein wrote.

Another episode covered in Gänswein’s book – a brief but very personal conversation between the newly elected Pope Benedict XVI and Schönborn – also took place as described by Gänswein, the Viennese archbishop confirmed on 18 January.

Will Christmas Be Transferred to Sundays? (Contribution)

 

According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, Sundays are holy days of obligation. 

In addition, the Code lists 10 holy days of obligation in the Church: “the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Epiphany, the Ascension, the Body and Blood of Christ, Holy Mary the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her Assumption, Saint Joseph, Saint Peter and Saint Paul the Apostles, and All Saints.”

Before you start to worry that you may have missed a few holy days of obligation recently, please rest easy. According to Canon 1246, “with the prior approval of the Apostolic See … the conference of bishops can suppress some of the holy days of obligation or transfer them to a Sunday.” 

Thus, for instance, even though Epiphany (which was traditionally celebrated on Jan. 6) is a holy day of obligation, the decision was made to “transfer” it to the following Sunday.

Of course, this transfer causes understandable confusion among the faithful. 

After all, unless Christmas falls on a Tuesday, Epiphany will not be celebrated on the 12th day of Christmas the following year. 

In 2022, Epiphany was celebrated on the 14th day after Christmas. That seems odd.

Even odder is that, back in the 1990s, Ascension Thursday was transferred to the following Sunday in most dioceses. This caused plenty of consternation, with good reason. 

Does the liturgical calendar matter? 

Do days of the week matter? 

If they do, how could Ascension Thursday be celebrated on Sunday? 

If they don’t, could Holy Thursday be celebrated the Sunday before Easter?

These questions give rise to another question: Could Christmas be eventually transferred to the following Sunday?

Part of the reason for transferring feast days is said to be the work schedules of the laity. For instance, if Epiphany were celebrated on Jan. 6 — which would likely fall on a business day — workers would have a hard time making it to Mass. They might have to take a vacation day or ask for an extra hour off during the day.

Of course, there is some truth to that, and I would know. 

I am an Eastern Catholic (we sometimes say “Byzantine Catholic”), and our holy days of obligation are immovable. We are obligated to go to Mass (we say “divine liturgy”) on days such as Ascension Thursday, the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul (June 29) and Epiphany (Jan. 6). Of course, those are workdays for many of us Byzantine Catholics. Some people might consider obligatory holy days an interference, but I consider them a great blessing as well as a wonderful opportunity for conversion.

On Jan. 6 of this year, I was scheduled to go to lunch with some friends at noon. I had planned on going to Mass at 9am, but I ran late, so I decided to attend noon Mass instead. I texted my friend to tell them I would be late because I had to go to Mass at 12pm. Instead, they kindly rescheduled for me. This change of plans led to a conversation about the Catholic faith, the feast of the Epiphany, and the beautiful basilica of Mary, Queen of the Universe here in Orlando.

That same day, my son told his employer that he could not attend a scheduled midday work meeting because he had to go to Mass at noon. Again, this created the opportunity for witnessing the faith.

We Catholics live in this temporal world, but Jesus reminds us that we “are not of the world” (John 15:19). Holy days of obligation during the week illustrate our proper relation to the world, and our proper relation to God. It is our duty to remind those around us of our baptismal promises. 

Even prior to that, it is our duty to remind ourselves. Holy days of obligation illustrate that some feasts are so important that they need to be celebrated outside Sundays. 

We Catholics should hope and pray not only that holy days remain in place, but that transferred holy days are restored to their proper place in the liturgical calendar.

Philadelphia Flyers’ Ivan Provorov Sparks Media Firestorm With Refusal to Wear Rainbow ‘Pride Jersey’ (Op-Ed)

 

In the car the other day, I was listening to two hosts on Toronto’s sports radio station. 

They were discussing the decision by Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov not to wear a rainbow warmup jersey during the pre-game skate-around.

The jersey was meant to show that the Flyers are “inclusive” of the LGBTQ community.

It was a solution in search of a problem.

Provorov said donning the jersey went against his Russian Orthodox Christian beliefs. 

He told the media: “I respect everybody, and I respect everybody’s choices. My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion. That’s all I’m gonna say.”

The National Hockey League has a policy stating that no player should ever be forced to do something that goes against his beliefs. So Provorov has not violated any rules, except those of public opinion.

The two radio hosts attempted to dissect this incident. Was Provorov right or wrong? Should he be punished or not? And so on.

But it was the comment of one host that confirmed for me modern society’s poor understanding of what true religious belief means. 

The host said he knew lots of people who are very religious but are more open-minded than Provorov. 

These phantom religious people he knows were cast as the good guys, because they don’t take too strict an interpretation of their creed. 

The message: Be religious, but don’t overdo it.

On the Sportsnet.ca website, Bayne Pettinger, a hockey agent and former NHL player who came out as homosexual three years ago, said he was concerned that Provorov’s position would set back progress hitherto made.

“We take these steps forward and we have all these initiatives and we start to show great signs within the game, and then people use their platform to damage that and say that you’re not welcome here,” Pettinger said.

First off, Provorov was not using a platform. He was reacting to questions about his refusal to wear the jersey by reporters.

Second, the idea that one man’s refusal to wear a certain jersey would change the course of history is a classic example of hyperbole.

The societal norm today is built on secular views, and those who dare to cite their religious beliefs against those views are outliers. 

I’m not sure why the Flyers felt it necessary to do this publicity stunt. Up until now, no one who buys tickets to a hockey game is asked his or her sexual preference. 

There was no indication that homosexual fans were made to feel unwelcome 

Rather, it’s what many businesses do today to pander to this group or that, so as to fend off any future accusations of bigotry. It’s called “woke capitalism.”

Provorov is a hockey player. He’s not a politician or the head of an advocacy group. He does not own a pulpit. 

But in today’s world, not approving of someone’s lifestyle is akin to being a raging bigot. 

As a Catholic I’m aware that my Church hasn’t made itself popular by refusing to bless same-sex arrangements. It’s sticking to the Christian definition of marriage as between one man and a woman. That’s our right, and yet we don’t exclude anyone or hate anyone. 

Many Protestant denominations have taken the “woke” path and as a result have seen their attendance drop like a stone … or perhaps tablets, in this example. 

For deeply-believing Christians, religion is not a popularity contest. It’s about being faithful. It’s a guiding principle. 

During the two world wars, Quakers refused to carry guns. They were considered traitors and cowards, even though they volunteered to serve as unarmed medics on the battlefield. 

They took seriously the New Testament admonition to turn the other cheek. 

In 1965, the great Dodger pitcher Sandy Koufax refused to play in the first game of the World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur, the holiest of Jewish days. He was honored for putting faith before a game — even one as important as a World Series game. 

Where does all this stop? Should everyone march in a Pride parade for fear of public scorn? Should we fly rainbow flags to show our support in a public way just to make sure we’re seen as being on the right side of things? 

Maybe that’s hyperbole, but at least there is evidence behind it.